The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of War
by ShadowPasinThru
Summary: Spyro and Cynder have defeated the Dark Master, Malefor, but in doing so, they lost Ignitus, and ripped the world apart. The world itself shattered under the stress of the three dragons' power. In its fracturing, something went wrong, and a young human marine was torn from his home world and thrown into the dragon realms. But, is he the only thing that crossed over?
1. A rude awakening

**Legend of Spyro Fanfiction Created by ShadowPasinThru**

ShadowPasinThru

Updated last:20130113

Annoying disclaimer: I do not own ANY of the Legend of Spyro characters, and some OC's are not my own either. A "Profiles" chapter

will be added later to go into further detail. PM me for OC mix-in details. Enjoy the read.

* * *

**Chapter 1, A rude awakening**

He woke up in the middle of a storm. He was dazed, disoriented, cold and wet. An unpleasant combination to say the least. Then the headache hit him like a sledgehammer. He sat up and groaned loudly, hearing the sound of rain on still-water. Slowly, he became aware of the feeling of numbness. He never was able to handle the cold well, as he was from the south, and considered cold-blooded even by Louisiana standards. Lightning lit the world and nearly blinded him even though his eyes were still shut. The thunder unleashed a deafening roar overhead, making him jump up, and his eyes shoot open.

He recoiled and shut them firmly as another lightning bolt arced and hit a tree just ahead followed immediately by more thunder. His common sense beat his military training in telling him he had to get to safety. The weather was going mad and it seemed the world was coming apart around him. Painfully, he opened his eyes again. His headache staggered him and his knees almost buckled. His skin started to tingle, and the hair on his back stood on end.

Automatically, he lunged forward, out of the small pool of water. Behind him, the world lit up, and steam sprayed out as lightning struck right where he had just been standing. "Shit, that was..." Immediately, he rolled forward as a second bolt struck just behind him, launching him forwards two feet up, and five out.

He landed flat on his stomach and coughed heavily, then struggled to catch his breath. He didn't until then, register that he was not where he should be. He looked around, but saw nothing in the torrent. It was pitch black except for the lightning that lit the sky. Above, lightning arced again, illuminating the small clearing surrounded by dense vegetation. He pushed himself up as fast as he could, his heavy flak jacket making the process more difficult, and sprinted to the tree line to get out of the direct rain. He heard something clack and impact the rear sapping plate with each step. He reached his left arm back, and felt his M16A4 fastened to him.

"Aw, come on! This is a bad fucking joke, guys!", he yelled out as he reached the tree line, the canopy diverting the rain. He couldn't make out any real details when he looked around. He reached into his right cargo pocket and dug out his steel tactical flashlight. A quick twist of the tip, and a bright led light flashed him in the eyes, startling him.

"Fuck!", he yelled out as his headache intensified. He shined the light ahead of him, and his vision readjusted. Ahead of him was a rather large cave, the entrance to which was concealed with moss. He threw himself through the vines that draped heavily off the overhang, tearing and taking a few with him. Once inside, the sound of the storm outside immediately quieted. He scanned the cave for any threats, first the floor directly ahead of him, then a broad inspection of the walls. It was a shallow cave. The back wall was clearly visible even from here. He sighed aloud. He wasn't going anywhere tonight. At least, he assumed it was night. In truth, he had no idea where the hell he was. He walked over to the back wall, and unslung his rifle, bringing it to the alert position, aimed down at the dirt, but ready to go in case he had to go condition one(mag. Inserted, round in chamber. Ready to kill.). He leaned back against the wall, and let himself slide down slowly, plopping tiredly to the ground. He yawned, and brought his rifle across his chest. "Where the hell am I?", the marine asked to no one in particular as he succumbed to his sudden exhaustion.

_Meanwhile, halfway across the very same world, which was, in fact, falling apart to the magical stresses caused by two certain dragons of a certain rare color fighting..._

"I will never be defeated, you ignorant little whelp! You will die here, alongside your little treacherous friend here. Now, let me show you what a real purple dragon can do!", the largest of the three bellowed. The two smaller dragons, one purple and gold, the other black and scarlet backed up slowly as the monstrous purple dragon breathed in, his chest expanding outwards, giving him even more of a menacing appearance. He reversed gears, and fired a blast of pure convexity at the two others. They reacted quickly, dodging in opposite directions, as the blast tore through the air and ground just behind them.

"No, Malefor! This is the end! This is where you die!", the little purple dragon screamed back in response. The large purple dragon took to the air and laughed out of pure malice and contempt. "You cannot defeat me.", he said just before firing another enormous wave of energy at the two. They flew up and met his blast with their own. The power struggle dragged on, and the purple dragon said to the black, "Just hold on!" Suddenly, the combination of their power became unstable, and an explosion ripped all of the dragons from the air.

The immense purple dragon quickly recovered and rolled onto his feet, realizing he had been thrown to the crystal...that damned crystal. "NOO!" He screamed in protest as several eternal ancestral dragon spirits took wing around him and circled before all in unison, diving into him, and dragging him down to damnation once and for all.

But this stress was just too much for the world around them. It was breaking apart. The black dragon's head drooped in sorrow. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said to the purple dragon. Strongly, he replied, "It's okay. I know what I have to do." She traced his stare to the beam of convexity emitting from the core of Malefore's lair. He could absorb it, and save the world. He knew the cost. He looked over to the dragoness next to him. It was worth it.

"Go!", he yelled out at her. She could still live. She held her ground. "No, Spyro, I'm with you. The core of convexity began to expand, and over all the chaos, over all of the destruction, one simple sentence rang loud and true. Knowing the fate they would share, Spyro looked to Cynder, and she spoke the three words that had the power to stop time where it stood, had the power to save lives... "I love you."

Everything went dark.

* * *

_Overnight, the world reformed to its natural beauty, and everything went back to normal...well almost everything…_

Half across the world, the marine awakes from an unusually peaceful slumber. He yawned loudly, his mouth opening more widely than comfortable for most people, and indeed, even for him. Pop! The noise echoed in his head, making it louder than it actually was for him. He yelped at the sudden shock of pain, and adjusted his jaw with his left hand. "Damnit, I hate when that happens. Wait...Where the hell am I?" He looked around for any clues, then it hit him. "Oh yeah, the storm last night... The cave..." Huh, he thought, at least I made it through that. He stood and walked to the mouth of the cave, weapon at the alert just in case. He could see light streaming in through the ripped vines. The warm, golden rays hit his skin, and warmed him. He pushed his way past the vines and stepped out. He was in the middle of some sort of swamp. But something was off. The greens were too green, the browns too brown. The grass was much too thick...and then something truly strange struck him. The water was purple. Not blue, not green, not brackish...purple. "Where in the fuck am I?" He struggled with his memory of last night...

Nothing. He was just here all of a sudden. The last he remembered that made any sense was going to sleep in his barracks. Suddenly, he was in full jungle cammies, with his flak jacket and M16. He also noticed he had four fully loaded magazines in his mag. pouches on the flack, and a single grenade in one of the two grenade pouches on the left side of his chest. The other appeared to be empty. He also noticed an M203 grenade launcher attachment on his rifle. He was geared for war. But why?

There was a quiet hissing emanating from the cave. He executed a practiced about-face, bringing his rifle up to the ready. Immediately, and with practiced military precision, he whipped a mag out and slapped it in his rifle, ripping back the charging handle, loading a round in, and going condit. 1. An impossibly big spider crawled out of the cave after him, hissing more loudly now. He aimed down at it, exhaled quickly, and pulled the trigger.

The shot rang out, and the creature froze. He stared at it for a moment. It was green, like it was made of moss or covered in it, or something. It stood 2 feet tall, which was preposterously big. It moved one leg in his direction, and not having lowered or even moved the weapon, he fired off 2 more shots, both of which punched through an eye. It hit the ground heavily and the hissing stopped, but he held his ground, keeping his eyes on it. "Fucking god damnit, what in the unholy hell is _**that**_?!" He half-shouted, struck with both awe and terror. Thank god for my training, he thought to himself. He'd never seen armed combat, but he knew wonderfully well how to handle a rifle. Suddenly, the hissing picked up again, but it wasn't the same creature doing it. _Run_, an old familiar voice chimed in. Only he could hear it, it was in his head...sort of. "Nice of you to join us, Bezy!", he snickered at his ethereal companion. He started spinning about carefully, trying to locate the aggressors...The trees around him were moving...Wait, that wasn't the trees... "Oh, god..." In his mind, he saw Bezekheil standing next to him, the demon's form looming over his own very small form. The heavy chains that criss-crossed his chest, and buckled onto his arms shifted as he crossed them. "_This isn't the world you or I are familiar with, human. This place is dangerous, even with my protection. My aura seems to be doing no good at repelling them..."_ The demon paused, closing its reptilian, slitted eyes. Without opening them, he spoke. "_Run, boy, just run." _It opened its eyes, and they burned in their deep crimson hue. He chuckled, a deep and guttural noise. "_Why are you still here?"_

With that, he snapped back to reality, time not having progressed a single second. He knew after countless times of this monster saving his life to trust what it said. He Turned tail, and bolted for an opening in the trees. He ran and ran, the spiders rippling through the woods behind him, but came to a sudden dead stop. A long rectangular pit lay before him, heavily thorned vines lay at the bottom. "Oh, no...", his voice trailed off, and Bezekheil did what he had a couple of times before. He took over.

His vision shifted, everything got darker, and he felt dizzy, but he didn't lose balance. He watched as his hands lifted the rifle without his say so. His left hand reached out swiftly, and popped the M203 open and forward. The weapon aimed down, and the left hand he no longer controlled worked its way into his left cargo pocket, and pulled out a single M203 HeDp round._ A high-caliber explosive designed to take out lightly armored vehicles, but no match for an army of__** friggin spiders, you dimwit**_, he yelled out in his own mind. Instead of whipping around and aiming at the swarming mass of chitinous armor and legs, he slid the round in, and cocked the attachment back, taking aim at a tree next to the pit. He saw the left hand slip back ever so quickly, flip the safety forward, and pull the trigger. There was no recoil, but the projectile went launching forward and took out not only the tree it aimed at, but the ones in front of and behind it as well. His vision returned to normal and he felt himself regaining control. The nearest tree fell angled towards him, and landed feet away with a loud crash, the middle one fell slightly away from him, and the third crashed down, angling toward the opposite end of the pit. "Bezekheil," he said aloud as he hopped up on the fallen trunk and ran carefully but quickly down toward the other three. In no time at all, he'd crossed the pit, and hopped down on to the solid ground beyond. He whipped around to get a glimpse of the monsters pursuing him. They paused at the pit, and then looked up at him. They cowered and backed up, never turning around.

"Hell yeah, that's what I thought, suckers! **This is my boomstick**!", He yelled out, mocking the spiders cowering from such a small obstacle. "Hehehe...he...ehee... Shit, well, tha'snotgood..." his laughter drowned out as he saw a gigantic shadow fell over him, and about 6 feet of the ground in front of him. "Fucking what now?!", he yelled out as he tucked his rifle close to his body and rolled to the side, hearing a loud crash where he had just been. He recovered almost immediately, and bounced back to his feet, aiming at what he knew(through video games, mythology and reading) to be either a treant or nature golem. This was no video game, though it did seem oddly familiar. It stood at around 12 feet tall, shoulders covered in moss, tree stumps for legs, and viney tendons crisscrossing its wooden club-like arms. It raised its arm for another swing, and he bolted around and behind it as the club came crashing down again, shaking the ground. "Too damn slow," he said as he dipped his left hand into his left pocket and pulled out his only other HeDp round and deftly loaded it. "Too damn bad.", he finished off the statement with a satisfying clack from the M203 cocking. He pulled the trigger, and heard the beautiful *THUMP* noise of the round firing off. The success was short lived, and the explosion that ensued threw him back, rolling about 8 feet, he stopped upside down on his neck, with a sharp pain in his back. He hit something solid. He watched, smirking despite his awkward position, and uncomfortable ache. The golem/treant thing collapsed forward, causing a tremor that put him on his side. He stood immediately, taking in his surroundings. He was now standing in front of what appeared to be a forgotten temple. Before him lay a series of beautiful gold dragon statues all lined up except, he noted for the very last one at the end, behind which, lay closed stone circular door.

Behind him, the hissing grew louder again. He turned his head, glancing back. The spiders were coming again... He bolted into the temple, and muttered an apology under his breath as he pulled out the one grenade he had, and popped the safeties loose. As soon as he reached the entrance, he simply dropped it and sprinted at full speed. Behind him, the hissing was getting as loud as a train, then in a flash, the world went black again.


	2. Out with a BANG!

**Chapter 2, Out with a bang**

"Ugh, am I dead? Did that do it? Oh, wait...dead don't talk..." He opened his eyes, revealing the temple, a magnificent structure all except for the entrance, which was now in ruins. "Damn, well, at least that did it. Shame about the entrance, though. He looked around at the gold and gem-gilded walls, and it didn't take him long to realize it was a very, VERY large hallway of sorts. There was a roof, but it had so many gashes in it that plenty of light came through. However, he realized that he was casting three shadows. One towards the entrance, two to either side. On second look, he realized that there were lit braziers lining the walls. "This mad place is inhabited?", he asked himself quietly, yet aloud, nonetheless. "Hello?!", he called out, awaiting a response. None came and so, roamed through the structure, which didn't offer much freedom to roam, being only a hallway Eventually, he came to a stop in front of the out-of-place statue of a dragon.

"Hmm... erm, Bezy, whadaya make of this?", he said as he rubbed his hand over the head of this amazingly detailed golden dragon. _See the round marble plaque on the ground, hmm?_ he heard the familiar ethereal echoey voice in his head. He looked past the statue, and sure enough, the plaque was there. _Slide the statue onto it. You're welcome, you unobservant tool. _The voice rang out again, impatience rippling through it. "You serious? I'm a tool?! It must weigh 3 hundred pounds at LEAST!", Xane yelled aloud. His vision darkened again, and against his will, his body pressed against the statue. "God damn you," he thought as he felt the muscles in his body strain against it, "I'm telling you, this won't..." He cut short when he felt it shift, and slide toward the plaque. Slowly, inch by inch, it slid until it rested upon the platform.

He collapsed to the ground, suddenly very sore from the unnatural exertion. "I don't even want to think about the dama..." He trailed off as he heard a loud click, and then scraping from the door as it rolled open. "Well, I'll be... You got it." He felt Bezekheil chuckle in his mind. _What have we learned?_, he heard internally. "Aw, shut up...", he groaned at the demon as he forced himself to stand, the rifle and flack suddenly becoming very heavy. He looked into the new room, and his jaw dropped. Numbly, he strode into the room, and couldn't help but marvel at the wealth of beauty around him. In the dead center of the room, stood a proud and immense gold dragon. "Wow...", he said simply, as a memory tickled at the back of his mind. He strode up to it and pressed his hand to the base. He touched it, and as he did, he felt something inside of him react. It was a feeling he knew all too well. Deep in his chest, at the very center, just next to his heart, a swelling, breathtaking feeling. It was magic. The ground beneath him began to shift, and spin. he turned 180 and bolted to the wall where the floor wasn't spinning. The dragon statue descended into the floor, and as it did, the floor closed up, triangular golden plates closing it in. Without warning, wooden apelike puppets sprung up out of the ground and charged him.

* * *

_MEANWHILE..._

Volteer already knew what the others were waiting to confirm. He was able to accept that Spyro, Cynder and Ignitus were dead. That did not make him feel any better about it... Spyro and Ignitus were the only dragons who could tolerate, much less understand his speech. He blamed his haywire nerves and overactive synapses for his rapid, overly intelligent speech. Now that they were gone, he felt very alone. He had no one to talk to. He had tried talking to Cyril, but that elicited the same response it always had. "Will you stop that incessant rambling?!", he recalled his cold companion exclaiming after he tried simply greeting him... And then there was Terrador. He just stared at Volteer vacantly. He and Ignitus had been close since they were hatched. They had grown, learned and trained together. Volteer knew how heavy of a blow it would be to him if Ignitus never returned. He held a stern, strong face about it, and even maintained his calm, level-headed demeanor when he did speak... However, if he was approached unprepared, and with no time to rehearse, he only stared vacantly, as if he were hollow. Volteer knew he was in agony from the loss he had yet to truly accept. Even Cyril was taken aback with the distant explosion, and he reeled when Volteer proposed their companions deceased. All he had said to that was "B-but Spyro... He was royalty. I-I-I had so...so much to teach him yet. He had such a promising... No, they must not be dead. He was too young."

He had to forcefully slow down his speech patterns and use simple words so they understood his proposition. He tried telling them they should just cease with this preconceived notion that the purple dragon of legend was immortal. But his nerves were riled up from Cyril's preposterous denial. He hadn't slowed his speech or used more simplified terminology for them that time, and they simply dismissed him. So with no further reason to remain, he departed for the old temple, which he had heard partially returned to its former location in the swamp. Perhaps some peace and quiet would do him some good... Or if that turned out to be a contrary case, he could ramble on and vent his frustration. So, presently, he was en route to the old temple, which had just come into sight. Indeed, it was there. It seemed aged, and heavy foliage had encroached upon it in these scant two days since Malefore's fall. He wondered if anything else had changed...

He landed heavily upon the balcony that led to the training chambers he had used to teach young Spyro the art of lightning mastery. He remembered that brief reprieve fondly. He was partaking in his original profession. Instructing promising young dragons in their own dormant abilities. Suddenly he felt a lone tear roll down his snout. He shook his head rapidly, in a vain attempt to shake with it, the sudden impact of all he had lost. It hit him like the thunder that follows lightning, that he had no one to talk to. He may as well not have an intellect at all now, or even the ability to speak. It then occurred to him that the chamber was sealed off. That only occurred when the... When the temple was under attack!

He held his claw up to the round stone door, and obediently, it opened. Inside, he saw something rather odd. A single intruder, dressed quite oddly for an ape, and he was much too small. As another note, his sword was...rounded and very strange. He stared inquisitively as the strange ape rolled about, smashing the wooden guardians with not the rounded blade of his odd sword, but rather the handle, while he held on to the blade. One dummy brought its sword down on him in an overhead slash, and the ape raised his own horizontally and the dummy's blade shattered on it. "HAH!", Volteer heard the ape call out as it smashed the pommel of its sword into the dummy's face, rendering its enchantment void and useless. "Not so damn tough now, are ya?! Fight a devil dog! Get a hellfire of a bite!", the creature continued to taunt as it rounded on another dummy and brought the side of the pommel crashing through its wooden-bucket-skull. Another guardian tried to grab his shoulder, but the ape unleashed a flurry of motions any other dragon would not have kept up with. The ape grabbed its hand, spun outwards and behind it, catching its right ankle with the back of his left leg, and with a simple push on the back of its left shoulder, took the guardian down, snapping its arm off in the process. The guardian had to admit, he was impressed by its dexterity and power, but it was still an unwanted guest in a place it simply had no right to be. With a simple, unvoiced command, the puppets vanished and Volteer stepped in to deal with the intruder.

"Hell yeah! Can't fight the best, go die like the rest!" He chuckled as he kissed the barrel of his M16. "Thank god for MCMAP. And here, I thought it was use..." His sentence cut off as another immense shadow fell over him. This one was far larger, and made his blood run cold. "Aww...crap. WHAT NOW?!", he yelled out as he spun around to stare into a pair of gigantic amber eyes and a massive yellow snout. Electricity seemed to radiate from what he KNEW to be what it could not possibly be... He was staring slack-jawed and wide-eyed into the face of a living, breathing dragon. "Aaaw..ww F-f-f...fuck me..." He pulled a 180 turn and bolted as fast as he possibly could for the nearest wall. A shadow fell over him, and passed in front of him as the enormous yellow dragon landed facing him, placing itself in his direct path. He tried to stop, turn around, and run for his life at the same time, training and sense failing him in his awe and terror. Instead of doing any of his intended actions, he tripped on his own feet, and faceplanted on the floor, rifle digging up into his chest as he went down. He saw stars for a moment when his head impacted the solid ground. As quick as a snap, he threw himself back onto his feet and whipped back around, revealing an open door well across the chamber. It was about 300 meters away. He had no choice, he bolted like a bat out of hell for the door and exit. He was shocked when no shadow fell over him, and nothing seemed to attack him, and when he reached the (what he sadly realized to be) balcony, he stared down over the edge. It was a good 200 meter drop to the trees. Even he, despite his bad habit of not dying wouldn't likely make that one... He turned around slowly, and his breath caught when he didn't see anything in the chamber. It was empty... "Phew, looks like Xane gets to live to see the sunset. Oorah.", he said to himself, and he brought his rifle back to the alert. As soon as he did, the dragon slammed down, just inside the chamber, right behind the door. Slowly, it stepped out onto the balcony with him.

"What order of deviant malignant manifestation of darkness are you, you wretched uncivilized, uncultured ape?!" It lowered itself, ready to pounce at him. He picked up his rifle, and took aim at it. "That ridiculous, impotent waste of metal you call a sword will not help you against me, miscreant!", the dragon bellowed at him. Sure, why not... a dragon was not only talking to him, but insulting him and his rifle. It had been an odd enough day. He would, at this point, pass it off as a dream, however, there was one problem with that. He didn't dream. Bezekheil saw to that. "Alright, I'll bite. As for ape, wrong species entirely. I'm a human. As for uncivilized, **you don't even know me!** ", he yelled out the last part at the dragon. He'd always considered himself quite civilized as far as military goes. The dragon seemed taken aback by his replies. It made itself larger, puffing its chest out, and raising its head high to the sky.

"Do not...test me...ape. I know quite...Well what...you are..." The dragon seemed to be forcing itself to speak slowly. Forcing itself to use simpler words. He scoffed. "You're calling me stupid now, eh? I have a firm grasp of the English language, **thank you very much.**" He was getting impatient with something that could and likely soon would eat him in one bite. "Now, I don't want to hurt something I've idolized for the past 20 years of my life, so how far is this going to go? Insults, or are you going to try to cook me?" The dragon barced a laugh. "I'm afraid, you queer ape, that fire is not my element. Though, it is a secondary effect, thereof, under the proper circumstances..." the dragon paused, catching itself rambling. Great, he though, I'm going to be killed by a lunatical dragon. "Sweet.", he muttered aloud. The dragon groaned in frustration, and as quick as a whip, lashed out at him. He didn't have time to react at all. It was impossibly fast. The dragon held him firmly in one claw as his other pried away his rifle, and tossed it back into the chamber.

"Put me the hell down! I swear to you, this is a bad friggin idea!" He yelled out in vain figuring it meant to bake him as it held him. "Hey, I mean it! .DOWN!" He again, tried convincing it. No luck. Then it hit him. A memory from his childhood, which he'd spent alot of on various video games. However, he had an old favorite he'd devoted alot of time to... The Legend of Spyro.

* * *

The ape looked around, immediately falling silent. Volteer presumed it knew how this was going to end and finally resigned itself to this fate. Demented little creature, Volteer thought to himself. Humans had been extinct for millennia. It was quite impossible for it to be one. Volteer judged it would be advantageous to incapacitate the creature and bring it in for questioning. With little conscious effort, he diverted a small neural charge to his hand and with a touch of magic, amplified it to a non-lethal shock to render the ape unconscious. The odd ape looked Volteer straight in the eyes and began to speak before it twitched and its head dropped in a ragdoll fashion. What happened next startled the dragon as he'd never been startled before. It exploded, shards of metal blasting through both it and Volteer's claws. Pain shot up his arm and blood immediately began to drip from his appendage. Out of reflex, he dropped the creature to the ground, a large red blotch began to form on its side. It was losing a decent bit of blood for something so small.

Volteer raised his hand for inspection and found that the small shards did little real damage, having passed clean through both his armor and flesh. None of the projectiles made contact with his bones. He had been lucky. Metal from these apes tended to have a poisonous aftereffect if it remained in flesh. "How very curious. It would seem this odd diminutive creature has happened upon a rather potent and ballistic weapon. To my knowledge, the apes never used fragmentation of that sort, nor any sword of that outlandish and by large, ineffective style... What ARE you?", Volteer said as he shifted his attention from his mild injury to the lump on the ground that had just caused it. Its side continued to bleed through its odd armor.

"Well, this brings about several interesting questions of your origin." Volteer pondered whether or not it would survive the trip to Warfang in its present state. He lowered his snout to it and nudged it slightly to see if it was still unconscious. He could take no chances with a creature that made a habit of blowing up when electrocuted. He drew his head back shortly when some of its blood smeared on his nostrils. The smell was sharp, bitter and coppery. He sneezed sharply, clearing most of the blood off. Ape blood was very basic. It was sharp, yes, but salty, and not coppery. That was a reptilian trait. This creature seemed almost chimeric. It didn't follow any conventions. Apes also did not talk, much less pose a semi intelligent rebuttal with a dragon of his caliber. They ran. It had held its ground. What's more, it looked at him as if it knew him just before he rendered it unconscious.

"Most curious...", and with that, Volteer scooped the creature up carefully, and lifted off for Warfang, The City of Dragons.


	3. Revelations under wraps

**Chapter 3, Revelations under wraps**

Volteer hit the landing platform of the new temple more heavily than he would have liked to, as he was carrying a passenger in one of his claws. He looked down at his hand and was concerned when he saw a crimson liquid dripping from the back, and felt a small pool of the liquid in his palm. He had to get this creature tended to quickly or it would be answering no questions at all. Cyril intercepted him as he strode into the building. "And where have you been, you flighty fool? We had important matters to discuss involving a search party to locate Ignitus, Spyro and Cynder! You had better have a good explanation for this or I'll..." The frosty blue dragon stuttered as he saw Volteer's paw, and the blood that marred it. "Are you alright? You should have that bandaged, Guar..." Volteer cut him off, "I am in quite excellent repair, however I would like you to get Hunter in here, that he may tend to this creature before it expires." With that, he unfolded his claws, revealing his cargo. Cyril's expression immediately went from one of concern to one of irritation. "You went out to fetch a pet?! You brought an APE back here?" Cyril brought one paw up and covered his face, sighing. "You put me at wit's end, Volteer. I swear, sometimes, I just don't understand you..." Sometimes, Volteer thought bitterly to himself. This cold hearted icesicle never understands me.

Cyril sighed again, more loudly and exasperated this time. "Hunter, please come and assist Volteer in whatever this ridiculous affair he's having is..." With that, the bipedal cheetah came walking out of the room before them with a grace held only by the finest hunters of his clan. "What is the problem?", the said simply, and Volteer eased the creature onto the ground in front of him. "Hmm..." Hunter poked and prodded at the creature, and finally removed what appeared to be an extra layer of cloth armor over the odd green camouflage that it wore over its body. There were several small holes in the side of the cloth, and that seemed to be the origin. Hunter then brought his paws up to its head, and with a quiet clack, what appeared to be a small camouflaged bowl fell off, revealing very short brown fur on top of a very unusual head. Hunter undid buttons on the cloth on the creature's chest, revealing yet another layer of drab olive green cloth, which he raised to reveal a furless torso coated in blood. "How many layers of cloth does that infernal creature need?", Cyril questioned aloud. "And what manner of ape has no fur? Is it mangy? Surely it can't be healthy."

Hunter looked over his shoulder after he found the source of his wound, and said to Cyril, "No, he is clearly unhealthy. He has lost a lot of blood. I can fix it, however. I will take him to a guest room and dress his wounds... And he does not appear to be an ape at all. By his body, I'd say he is more closely related to my kind than the apes. Only he does, indeed, have very little fur." With that, he lifted the creature and began to walk off.

"Do be careful with it, it has a tendency to explode rather violently when trapped. Also, do not let your guard down. It is highly aggressive, and powerful. And rude as well..." Hunter continued onward, little seeming to note Volteer's warning to him.

* * *

A sudden sharp pain brought Xane jolting out of his sleep. He shot up from laying to sitting then immediately fell back down due to a sharp burning sensation in his left side. "Oh, alright," he said to no one in particular, still not having opened his eyes. "I get it. That was all just a dream." he laughed lightly, each time, a shudder of pain, cutting it short. "Damn, I don't even remember going to battle, and I was shot. Damn the luck." With that he opened his eyes, and sighed aloud. When he looked up to see that same alien architecture. "Oooh, rolled a snake-eyes on that gamble..." He grunted and tried in vain to sit up again.

"You really should lay down, or the bandages will do you no good." He flinched as he heard the masculine voice call from his right. With the aid of adrenaline, he took in his surroundings, he was in a moderately large room with marble walls, and golden gilding where the walls met roof. He was also in a bed, on top of the blankets, with his blouse undone and his shirt untucked. He also knew he was unarmed. He remembered Volteer tossing his rifle away before he passed out. Then the shock hit him "Volteer! That was friggin Volteer, the lightning guardian!" He paused for a moment, considering what that meant. "Aww, man. I am dead, huh? This is my mind struggling to come to terms with my body shutting down.." A familiar bipedal cheetah walked up to his side calmly, yet with a predatory look in his eyes. "No, you aren't dead. I've seen to that myself. But you do raise questions. Namely, what are you?" He sighed, and turned his head to face the cheetah, which he soon identified to be none less than Hunter. "Well, Hunter, that's simple. I'm a human. To be more accurate, I'm a United States Marine. A devil-dog. A hunter of men. But for all the sense this situation is making, I may as well **BE THE GOD DAMNED TOOTH FAIRY, OR EVEN SANTA CLAUSE**!" He ended the sentence yelling in frustration, noting that Hunter jumped back, clearly shaken by the fact that he knew his name. Out of the blue, Hunter barked a laugh. "Oh, for a second, nonono, you meant I'm a hunter. Hehehe. But how do you know Volteer's name?"

"The same way I know yours, **Hunter**," he put extra emphasis on the name to show he wasn't pulling it out of his ass. "A little old...erm...story... from the world I'm from. You're an expert at the bow, and a friend of Spyro's. You were the first one they saw when they popped out of that crystal, and you're loyal to dragons...That sound about right?" Hunter just stood there, dumbstruck. "Volteer is the master of lightning, Cyril is the master of ice, Terra...something or other is the master of earth, and Ignitus... Well, if you're here, then he's dead. And Spyro and Cynder are missing. So, do I win a prize?" Hunter stood there, still as a statue. Xane had a bit of a talent for remembering stories. Especially from the video games he spent entirely too much of his civilian life playing.

After a solid minute of Hunter being shocked out of his mind, he finally spoke. "Who...what are you? How do you know all of that? Who sent you?" He rapid-fired the questions at Xane who just sighed and replied. "I already told you what I am. As for who, Why the hell not, my name's Xane. Only fair you know my name since I know yours. I told you already, a story from my world. That's how I know. And as for who sent me..." He just shrugged at that. He had honestly no clue how, much less why he was there. There were worse places to be, but just the same...

"But...humans went extinct millennia ago... You destroyed yourselves, and nearly took the planet with you... If it hadn't been for the dragons stepping in and saving the world, you would have... How... How is this possible?" Xane did his best to shake his head. "You know, I have a funny saying from my world that sums up this whole bit of chaos. Wanna hear it?" Hunter nodded a single time. "Well, here goes. 'What's the difference between fiction and reality?" He didn't wait for hunter to try to answer. "Fiction has to make sense." With that, Xane Laughed aloud, ignoring the pain, and just basking in the madness of the moment. He barely noticed a very disturbed Hunter slipping out of the door and locking it behind him.

Cyril was relaxing next to the pool of visions when Hunter entered the chamber. Immediately, he picked up that something was off, the cheetah was all but running towards him. Despite his Generally calm demeanor, the biped was clearly panicked. Cyril stood and bristled with no idea what was going on. "Hunter, what is it? What's wrong? Are we under attack? Is the creature dangerous?" His eyes narrowed, the pupils going from round to slitted. "Did it attack you?" Hunter looked up at him, and calmed himself down, visibly relaxing, his face less showing his inner panic. "It does not seem to be much of a threat, and it did not attack me...but... It seems to know things about our current affairs that it has no right to know..."

Cyril chuckled. "You dote, you let it spook you. Calm yoursel..." Hunter cut him off. "It said Ignitus is dead, and it knew Spyro and Cynder were missing." Cyril was shocked, and he felt his face heat up in rage. "**HE IS NOT DEAD, WE JUST HAVE NOT FOUND HIM YET**.", he said, in a voice just short of a roar. Hunter walked up to him and lay a paw on his leg. "I know, I know. We'll find him." Cyril choked up after the rage subsided. "He was like a brother to me. Even after he left... I missed him. I miss him..." The enormous dragon began to tear up, the tears turning to ice crystals as they slid down his face. "We'll find him, Cyril. It's okay."

After a moment, Cyril pulled himself together. "Bring the creature out. I wish to speak to it. If it tries to harm me, I will kill it without hesitation. Do tell it that." With that, Hunter bowed deeply, and strode off to the room where the human lay, resting and recovering.

"We will find you, Ignitus. Ancestors, give us time, and look after Spyro and Cynder, wherever they may be..." With that, he lay back down, and waited for Hunter to return with the human.

* * *

"Mind telling me where we're going? I never saw a map of this place.", Xane said to hunter as Hunter helped him walk, step after painful step. "I am taking you to Cyril.", the cheetah said as they rounded another corner. "Yeah, you told me that, but what room? Where in this damned castle are we going?" He rolled his eyes when Hunter did not answer him directly. "You know," he said as his patience ran thin, and a thought struck him, "I can't help you if I don't know anything." Hunter gave an exhasperated sigh. "The problem, human, is that you KNOW too much." They trudged onwards, Hunter half-carying the human to his left so as not to worsen his injuries. They came to a gigantic wooden door, and stopped. "We're here.", Hunter said as he reached out and knocked on the door.

"Allow me.", Xane heard from behind him, just as he saw a large green dragon's arm reach past them and press the door open. "Thank you, Terrador.", Hunter said as Xane looked over his shoulder to reveal a very large broad snout. "So, you're the one Volteer won't shut up about, eh? Very well, let's hear what you have to say." Behind him, Xane caught a glimpse of the familiar Yellow dragon walking up. He had always preferred Ignitus and Volteer over the other two guardians. They seemed nicer, more open. Hunter walked him over to a large green pool of water in the center of the room, and stopped. It didn't take long, or even a dragon's instructions for him to know what it was. "The pool of visions.", both Xane and Terrador said in unison, causing Hunter and Volteer to look at the two of them curiously. "So," Terrador's thunderous voice rumbled out, "What Cyril said was true. You do know more than you should. Look into the pool, human. Tell me what you see." With Hunter's assistance, he leaned over the pool slightly, and looked in. Just his reflection. And he said as much. "Look a little closer. I have to know if you..." "Wait," Xane interjected, "Hold on, I see something..." His reflection began to warp, and darken. Soon he was looking at Bezekheil. His darkened draconic form that he adopted from time to time in order to better synchronize with Xane. He took this form because Xane liked dragons, always had, and the appearance made peaceful transactions between the two more possible. _You really should keep me a secret to them, boy. They don't much like humans, and I doubt they'll be a fan of a human possessed by a draconic demon._

Just then, the vision began to shift again, showing a small recess in a hill in the middle of a vast green valley. He looked closer, and the vision shifted closer to the cave, revealing two young dragons resting peacefully. Closer inspection revealed Spyro and Cynder. "Huh," he muttered under his breath, low enough that no one could hear. "So that's where you're hiding." Then the vision shifted again, and he saw a massive black-purple crystal. A low rumble rang out, and slowly formed a dark voice. His heart began to speed up, when he heard one sentence arise from the pool. "I see you." With that, the pool began to bubble, and water from it shot up, and threw Xane and Hunter on their backs. The massive wave hung overhead, still black, then began to crash down on then. Xane closed his eyes, and held his breath, bracing for impact. An impact that never came.

A chill suddenly struck Xane, and he began to shiver. He opened his eyes to reveal the water just above him had been frozen solid. He saw hunter crawl out from beneath the ice. Almost immediately, he felt himself being dragged from beneath the ice himself. His right hand started to go numb from the cold encasing it, and as soon as his head cleared the ice directly above him, he realized why that was. As soon as he was completely free of the ice, Cyril dropped his hand, and spit off to the side, the spittle coming out as a large ice crystal. The three guardians stared down at him interrogatively for a few moments before Cyril spoke out.

"So, do you mind telling us just what that was all about?"


	4. Distressing visions

**Chapter 4, Distressing visions**

He filled them in on most of what he had seen, the only exception being his ethereal friend. "Did you make out any other details of the valley?!", Cyril demanded sharply as he stepped even closer to Xane. "No, it didn't really occur to me to count the trees in it, or what shade of green the grass was. I was a friggin valley, for Chris'sakes." He paused for a moment. "If it helps any, it was one of the largest valleys I've ever seen in my life. And it DID have a river running down through it." At that, the guardians all looked at Hunter, who stroked his chin. "It could be Avalar.", he offered. "Excellent, we'll send off a search party immediately.", Terrador said as he turned around and walked out of the room. As soon as he'd left, Cyril looked to Volteer and asked "But if they are so close, then why wouldn't they just fly back here?" At that, Xane chuckled aloud. "Really, think about it... Why WOULD two young dragons who just saved the world together want to take a couple of days off?"

The two guardians blushed and exchanged distressed looks. "Oh, come on. For full grown males, you telling me that seriously never crossed your mind?" Their blushing intensified, and he burst into a bout of raucus and painful laughter. The guardians shook their heads, clearly irritated that this had not occurred to them. When he calmed down, Xane looked back at the two of them. "So, you've found them... What now? In my world, well...'that's all she wrote'." Volteer opened his mouth to speak for a moment, but closed it immediately. Cyril picked up where he had not even began. "Well, obviously, we'll rebuild. Not that it's any of your business." He seemed to have said that as much to inform himself and his companion as to inform Xane. It didn't surprise him that he was still getting the cold shoulder even after he'd helped them find their lost companions. They stood there in silence for minutes. Xane forced himself to stand. A painful process, but thanks to Bezy, his healing was remarkably fast.

Well, you don't seem to need me anymore, so I think I'm going to return to the room you've got me quarantined to. Cyril didn't even look up, but instead, just waved him away with his claws. "Very well.", Xane said in reply. Even Hunter just sat there. Xane knew exactly why they were all silent as graves. There was one companion of theirs he failed to locate for them. For some odd reason, though he already knew what happened to Ignitus, even he was caught with a touch of sadness at his absence. "Odd," Xane said as he stood before the agape doorway. He took a step through, and left on the comment "and I never even actually met him..." With that, he headed back to the room, having already memorized the route. They had disregarded his last vision, he recalled, as he walked. They even disregarded the phenomena that he even **had** visions in the **dragons**' pool of visions. He shook his head. "Bezy, what the hell is going on? Why am I here? How did I even get here?" He saw, in his mind's eye, the demon's still draconic face. _I am not sure, human. It is as strange to me as it is to you. In my knowledge, never, has this realm even existed. And yet...it is here, as are we... _the demon spoke in its usual echoey voice.

He finally reached the room, and was about to open it, when yet again, a shadow fell over him. "Alright, this shadow thing is REALLY starting to piss me off. Can I help you?", he said to whoever the hell it was. The voice that replied caught him off guard. "So then, Ignitus is..." Volteer's sorrow-bathed voice inquired above and behind him. Xane stopped moving altogether, his hand just resting on the door knob. "I'm afraid so. I'm sorry for your loss." He waited for some response. Some acknowledgement. He continued to stare at the golden door knob as though it held all the secrets in the world in its smooth textures. "If it makes you feel any better, I've lost everything I know. My family, my job, my friends... my whole world..." He felt something suddenly wet his shoulder, then heard a small splash on the ground behind him. He let go of the handle, turned around and looked the dragon in the face. He would have looked him in the eyes, if they weren't presently squeezed shut. Another tear fell, splashing the ground just in front of Xane. He couldn't possibly try to associate with the dragon. He'd just met him in person for the first time, and when he had, he threatened to shoot him. And Volteer responded by tazing the sense out of him, and K'O'ing him on the spot.

"Look, I know I'm about the last being in this realm that you'd expect sympathy from... Hell, you don't even have any clue who I am..." He paused, noticing the dragon hadn't taken a single breath since he'd asked the question. "Sometimes, big guy, it's just best to let it all out." He saw Volteer's chest shake slightly, his throat compressing, trying to draw in on itself. Xane stepped over to its nearest leg, and laid an ineffective pat on it. "It's alright. I'm no one to judge. No one cares what I say anyway. Just let it out." The dragon quaked a little, squeezing his eyes shut more tightly, as if he were trying to draw in on himself. Xane knew how he felt. He'd lost most of his friends when he joined the military. Just before that, he had gone to the town he knew as home, and discovered that everything had changed, and even his friends were almost unrecognizable. It very nearly destroyed him. "It's all right. Just let go." And then, the tears came crashing down with Volteer's mask.

After what seemed like an hour of Volteer sobbing, he finally started to pull himself together again. Even though Xane felt he had no reason to be there, though he felt like an interloper, he didn't dare leave the dragon alone. He knew how alone he felt right now. It's a terrible feeling to have. One Xane had grown all too used to. Friends for him were few and far in between. And now, with finality, they were gone. The dragon stopped crying slowly, and stood, dragging his paw across his snout, wiping away the moisture to the best of his abilities. Xane looked up at him, noting how red his amber eyes had become. "You feel any better?" Volteer let out a long sigh. "Quite minimally, I'm afraid to say. Such a senseless loss of composure and self-control does one absolutely no good, and indeed renders him rather foolish in appearance." Xane chuckled. "Well at least your talking normal again. You ought to go for a walk or flight before you join up with your friends again." Volteer let out another drawn out sigh, then simply nodded and walked off. Xane turned back around and retired to his room.

Xane took off the green cotton skivvy shirt and wrung it out in a corner of the room. It didn't make much of a puddle. The shirt didn't give up most of its moisture. So he set it on an empty weapons rack in the room, walked over to the bed, and plopped down heavily. "Damn," he said to no one in particular. "You'd've never known it from the game. Those two were close. REAL close." He shrugged it off. "Well, you know what they say," he said and he twisted and lay down in the bed. "No, what do they say?" He shot back up, and gripped his now aching side at the unexpected response. His head whipped to the door just in time to see Hunter close it. "Well, what is it they say?", he said, turning to look at Xane. Xane chuckled. "They say it's all about the FISH." Hunter tilted his head inquisitively. A quirk, Xane recalled native to cats and dogs. "The fish?", he repeated, awaiting further explanation. Xane chuckled again. "Fuck it. Shit happens." Hunter chuckled lightly at the explanation. "That seems to be a rather useless way of looking at it. How do they resolve anything?" At that, Xane couldn't help but laugh aloud. Reflecting on his world's history, it struck him that "they" didn't. Just one big goose chase. After he regained his baring, Xane said, "So, do you need something? More interrogation?" Hunter sat down on a chair in the room. "Actually, I'd come to make sure you had found your room instead of trouble." He raised an eyebrow. "However, I do have a few questions." Xane laid back down. This was likely to take a bit. "Shoot." Hunter went silent for a moment. "I said I had questions, I'm not here to kill you, and I left my bow against the wall outside." Xane flourished his hand in the air above him. Something he tended to do when he was bored and irritated at the same time. "It's a figure of speech. It means ask away."

"Ah, well it is clear to me that you are a warrior. Your build and your behavior as well as your pain tolerance say as much." Xane shut his eyes. "Yeah, you could deduce that from all of your observation...or you could have just asked what I did for a living." Hunter harumphed. "What are your tribe's values?" Xane chuckled, then replied with trained directness "Honor, courage, commitment." Hunter was taken aback. "That's it. What about strength? What about cunning? What about speed?" Xane shrugged. "Those your values? Anyway, strength and speed come with the job. They're understood." "And your purpose, human?" Again, as he had been trained to, he replied "Purpose of the Marine corps rifle squad is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or to repel the enemy's assault by fire and close combat." Hunter was silent again. "You were a guardian?" Xane chuckled again. "That's what I like to tell myself, yes." Hunter continued on. "What did you guard?" Xane replied after a moment of though. "Well, my realm, as you might call it. That and our beliefs, as well as our right to express them." Hunter gasped slightly. "So you were a hero in your world?"

In his mind's eye, Xane saw a devious smile creep across Bezekheil's face, and he felt a pang of guilt over what he was. He was possessed, a corrupt soul harboring a spirit of hatred and darkness. "I'm no hero.", That's all he said in response. It was Hunter's turn to chuckle. "Don't be so modest. Any creature that fights for its realm is a hero." Xane felt all his patience drain. "I'm tired. Can we continue this some other time?" He heard hunter stand, the chair creaking as he did so. "Very well. May recovery come swiftly to you, human." Seconds after that, he heard the door open and close. Then he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_Sometime later..._

"Wake up, human. **WAKE UP**." Xane groggily opened his eyes to find the source of the ridiculously booming voice. Shit, Xane thought, I missed formation. Now the First Sergeant's going to kill me... He wiped the sleep from his eyes, and memory instantly caught up to him. Quick recollection was the compensation for his lack of dreams. He almost laughed aloud when it hit him that his First Sergeant was worlds away from him right now. "Will you _**please**_ wake up and get out here? You are keeping the General waiting..." Xane's mind reeled for a moment. "Oh, shit! The gen...wait. The General isn't here! He's back in the States. What kind of stupid joke is this?" Xane facepalmed when it finally sank in that his world was not this one. The voice called out again from just outside, "Not **your **General, human. **Our** General. General Adaman."

Xane threw on his boots and blouse with practiced speed, and grabbed his cover. He may not be around any other marines, but by damn, he would follow protocol. With that, he stepped out the door. A new, unknown dragon was there waiting for him. "Huh, you're new.", he said without thinking. An unknown dragon caught him off guard. Somehow, it never occurred to him that there **were** any dragons other than the guardians, Spyro and Cynder... And another one who had quite slipped his mind... The dragon reared up indignantly, pressing a red paw to his dull grey chest plates. He had scars riddling his body, and was actually not all that big. Easily bigger than Xane, but he WAS still a dragon. "Excuse me?!" The dragon said as though he had been slapped across the face. Xane shrugged. "I don't recall ever seeing you. No offense intended." The dragon harrumphed. "You are a soldier, correct?" Xane felt his brow twitch when it said that. "No, I am a Marine, thank you very much. We outdo soldiers 6 days out of the week. The seventh, we let them win out of pity."

"Marine, what a ridiculous title. Why, you have no fins, and you're nowhere near water. And here, we believed you'd perhaps be useful to us." He blew smoke out of his nostrils in Xane's direction. "I AM a warrior. I am a rifleman, and I am trained at close quarters combat. As far as humans go, I'm one of the best of the best." The dragon chuckled despite the visible tension between them. "Well, humans certainly don't go very far, do they, fish?" At that, the dragon laughed aloud. Xane smirked. "And you, soldier, are holding up your General in witty, prideful banter. So..." The dragon practically jumped out of his skin when he realized Xane was right. "Now look what you've done, you loathsome thing! We're late and you are the cause!" Xane replied off-handedly, "Well, let's get going before your General decides to roast you alive." The dragon snorted, and turned down the hallway, not waiting for Xane to start walking.


	5. General Adaman

Chapter 5, General Adaman

As Xane and his escort neared a large redwood doorway, they slowed to a halt. The dragon was

listening to the heated conversation inside, and Xane wasn't easily able to open the door, it

being roughly three times as tall as himself. Xane looked to the dragon impatiently. "You going

to open it or...?" He stopped when he heard a crash and shouting inside, and his companion's

face paled to a yellowish color. "Ehehehe...that had something to do with us, didn't it?" The

dragon looked down at him, and gave a single nod. "You're going in first, human. This is your

fault." Xane laughed caustically. "Marines always do, SOLDIER.", he said with a touch of pride

and a sprinkling of arrogance. He respected dragons, but respect only went so far before it

gave way to agitation.

The dragon pushed out with one paw, and the door slid open, just enough for Xane to slide in.

He swallowed all of the moisture in his mouth out of nervousness. Inside, there was a pissed

off, impatient, high-ranking dragon prone to battle and violence. Sweet... Xane slipped in, and

was halted at the door by a face that held eyes like chipped sapphires. and scales the color of

a raging inferno, marred with scars that only served to harden an already threatening

wickedly twisted brown horns rose over the top of its head, tilting forward just below the

points. Immediately, Xane did the only thing that was likely to keep his hide unscorched. He

snapped to the position of attention, and whipped out a sharp salute, never moving his eyes

from the dragon's. "Good afternoon, sir! PFC La'Hart, reporting as ordered."

The Dragon visibly cooled, and its eyes widened very slightly. It stepped back, and cut a

salute with its wing to its eye ridge. Xane cut his salute immediately afterwards. The general

squinted above Xane to the door behind him. "Captain Blaze! I recall having told you to get

him here in a timely fashion. Explain yourself.", the General bellowed just overhead, making

Xane's ears ache. He heard, despite the subtle ringing, the doors behind him creak open. "He

was sleeping, sir... I tried to wake him, but he went on about me joking... I had to explain to

him that you really WERE waiting for him... It's the human's..." General Adaman spoke up before

The other could finish pointing the finger, or claw in this case, at Xane. "You are a 9 foot

tall fire-breathing dragon of war, and you are telling me you couldn't even get a human out of

bed?! Perhaps your promotion was a tad hasty, and you need to be set back to lieutennant?" The

dragon laughed, and continued on with finality, "Hell, at least the creature gave me a salute

and propper greeting. Something YOU still have not done..." Xane heard a brief shuffling behind

him before the General spoke again. "Don't even bother, you waste my time, and your leadership

abilities are questionable at best. We will speak after this meeting is concluded." The dragon

replied with a distraught and brief "Yes, sir..."

General Adaman turned arround, flourishing his wings as he spun, causing a small gust to stir

Xane's blouse, and almost knock off his cover. "Come and join us, you two.", the General said

as he continued to walk away. Before Xane could take a single step, a voice rose up from behind

him. "Well, you're not going to make us even MORE late, are you? MOVE." Xane was proppelled

forward, stumbling and nearly face-planting as Captain Blaze's snout thrust him forward. "Aye,

sir...", Xane said loud enough for the dragon to hear, and perhaps taste the mockery behind

"sir". Xane sprang forward when he felt a sudden heat wave on his back. He felt the skin on the

back of his neck tighten, and saw his shadow shift before him. "HEY!", Xane hollered, back to

the dragon. "You might be fireproof, but the only part of me that's even fire resistant is the

clothes on my back!" He spun arround, caught by a rage stirred up by having his life suddenly

threatened. "I swear, If I had my M203 here with me, YOU'D be in pain and a hospital right now!"

The dragon just snickered and kept walking, stepping over Xane, and making him drop to a crouch

so he wasn't run over. Xane growled and chased after the dragons.

They came to a stop in front of a domed marble structure with a silver roof. Directly above the

doorway, was a sculpture of an enraged dragon, rearing up on its hind legs, readying to strike

whatever opponent dared get in range of its mighty claws. "The war room." Blaze craned his neck

to look back on Xane, who simply nodded his understanding. They walked up to the doorway, and

Blaze placed a paw on the door, but did not push. Instead, he looked down at Xane and said "I

don't see why you were allowed here. I doubt you could kill a toadstool, much less an ape."

"I've killed spiders!", he replied quickly, which brought a choked off laugh from the dragon.

"Wow, you're sooooo strong. You must teach me your masterful technique." Xane glared up at him.

"If I had my rifle, I just might." The dragon shook his head. "What IS a...nevermind, they are

waiting." With that, he pushed the door open, and the two of them walked in.

There were six large dragons standing around an enormous table in the center of the room. Three

of them, he recognized as the guardians. One was the General. The other two, he had never seen

before in his life. Following Blaze's lead, he approached the table and rendered a salute. He

half wanted to say "Good afternoon, gentlemen," as well, but it struck him that he was not

dealing with men anymore. The three (he presumed) militant dragons returned their own salutes,

and Blaze and Xane cut theirs. "Now, to the matter at hand. Any intel. we can gather about

our enemy is more we can use against them. As matters stand, they are knocking on our front

door right now." The emerald-green dragon speaking had a hoarse voice, as though it was worn

from shouting orders. He had few scars on him, the most notable being a gash on his ram-like

horns. He stood with a pride that Xane could spot a mile away, marking him as a higher NCO

rank(I will use military terms. I recommend you keep google handy.)

The other unfamiliar dragon shook its head in dissent. "Any information that is TRUE would be

useful. However, I doubt we can trust this...thing that just happened to be captured raiding a

dragon temple." The azure dragon gestured in Xane's direction, his bulky silver pauldrons

shifting as he did so. "I think we're being just a little bit hasty with this decision. We are

not so desperate just yet... Give our warriors time to turn the tides! We will not fail you."

General Adaman raised a claw and scratched beneath his jaw. "You have such faith in your royal

guard, Colonel. I would love to believe that they are as undefeatable as you claim, but we must

be realistic here." The Colonel snarled. "REALISTIC? Don't even get me started on being

realistic! General, you're suggesting aid from a creature that is not only NOT a dragon, but a

creature that was up till recently said to be extinct. I mean look at it! It looks just like

the apes!" The general brought his tone up to a roar. "Colonel Winters, you will settle

yourself, or you will be dismissed from this council. We have an opportunity here. One I do not

intend to pass up. I understand how foolish this seems to you, but you must have faith in your

command." Towards the end of his statement, he seemed to cool down. Fortunately, this General

Adaman seemed able to forgive and forget. Such an affront to a Marine Corps General would not

have smoothed over so quickly. The Colonel shifted his gaze to the green dragon beside him.

"And what is your side in this, First Sergeant? Surely you can't be okay with this. Think of

the repercussions. If it lies, your men die for it. The royal guard could push them back and

buy time for the army to recover. This puts too much at stake, surely you see this...?" The

First Sergeant looked down at the map on the table, then lifted a dragon figurine from it.

"Sir, with all due respect, while I do not trust the human, how much time can the royal guard

truly buy? Scratch that, it is not time we need. It is progress. Time down would help

strengthen the soldiers' bodies, but I fear it would take a heavy toll on their spirits. If we

knew where to strike and how, it would do us far more good than being able to go back to

ineffective strikes and retreats." The First Sergeant closed his eyes and shook his head. "No,

we need a victory. Not reinforcements. I am with the General on this matter." He opened his

eyes and stared directly at Xane. "We need hope at this point. That or a hero..." The general

spoke up, "We will possibly have both very soon. A recovery party has been dispatched for Spyro

and Cynder. We have discovered their whereabouts with the aid of this very human that we are

asking help from again."

The colonel's head shifted back on his neck as he withdrew in shock. "They...They've found him?

That is excellent! Why was I not informed?" Xane tried to will Blaze to move just a tad forward

so that he would be hidden from the First Sergeant's view. He had never stopped staring. Xane

could feel a twinge of despair in that gaze. Clearly, whatever war they were having did not

seem to be going as hoped. But the Dark Master was gone. He was dead. What was still

threatening the dragons? What would have any reason or drive to? General Adaman answered

quickly, "We need your head in the battle, Colonel Winters. We can't have you filled with false

hope, which you seem to have done to yourself. We need you devising plans and strategies that

will lead us to victory. Not telling tales and weaving dreams about some lone purple dragon who

would step in and take the war himself."

Xane noticed Hunter approaching from his left, and gave him a small nod in greeting and

acknowledgment. Hunter came to a stop right beside him. "I'm glad to see you've recovered so

quickly. You've become the subject of quite a few...interesting conversations. Right now,

you're a battle asset, but just minutes ago, you were a science experiment." Hunter chuckled as

Xane raised a wary eyebrow. "Don't worry, the war takes precedence. You keep your hide for now."

Somehow, that didn't make Xane feel any better. "What's going on? Malefor is dead. I saw him

die myself. What the hell is attacking the dragons this time?" Xane shifted his attention from

hunter back to the First Sergeant, whom was still staring. "First Sergeant, I believe this

brings us to the conclusion. You are dismissed. However, I do urge you to rest and eat before

you return to the field. You need to stay healthy and strong for your soldiers as much as for

your own hope." The First Sergeant looked away from Xane for the first time in what seemed like

half an hour, and looked General Adaman in his eyes. "Sir, it is not my hope I'm concerned for.

I know better than to hope for a miracle. It is the hope of our soldiers. I just don't know how

they will react when they find out we're being aided by..." He gestured in Xane's direction,

"this tiny thing.", he finished, as visibly unsure as any scared leader would be in his

shoes...erm position...

The First Sergeant gave a tired wing-salute before walking toward the door, which put Xane in

his direct path. As the dragon passed to the side of Xane, he paused. Xane couldn't help but to

look him in the eyes and try to read what he could be thinking. The old emerald dragon had a

nearly timeless look about him. Xane could see the countless battles he'd been through. This

was a dragon that was clearly used to the chaos and stress that war brought with it. Never

turning his head, maintaining his heading to the door, he moved only a single eye to stare at

Xane again. "Human, I am old. I've seen a lot in my time. I've seen my soldiers die in front of

me. I've suffered with each of them. My name is Terra. Remember that name, and know that if you

lie, you will be causing me and all those under me pain you will never be able to equal up to.

Please, if there is any good in you, in the ancestors' names... Help us."

With that, he just sighed and resumed his path in a defeated pace. Things were bleak here. This

is nothing like Xane had expected. Things should be peaceful. The war should be over. The apes

had no leader. The head of the beast was already cut. What was driving them? Xane was

speechless to see things in such a bad state. The only thing that made this all worse was that

he knew he had little to offer that they did not already know. He was already swimming in the

deep end, and he was running out of air. The game didn't go this far. Then again, this wasn't a

game anymore. He looked over at Blaze to his right, and Hunter to his left. Blaze was looking

at him with an expression of contempt, and Hunter was staring expectantly. What could he do?

With nothing else he could offer, he pleged what he could. He had no idea how much it was, but

it was what he could promise them, and not be a liar. "I swear, I'll do everything I can. I'll

give it my best." Without waiting for the others, Xane started off to where the three guardians

had gathered. If he was going to be any good at all, he needed information, trust, and a new

weapon...

* * *

"Cyril, I've told you, this is a bad idea! Just because he could use the pool of visions once

does NOT mean he can do so again." Terrador continued to ruble on in his usual deep voice, "I

don't even know how anything **not** a dragon could use the pool in the first place. You

can't trust it." Volteer sat quietly listening to the other two bicker endlessly. After it had

been revealed that Spyro and Cynder were yet alive, he seemed to wake back up. He was still

upset about Ignitus, obviously, but Volteer supposed that at least having the purple dragon of

legend back was enough to spur him on. "Perhaps not, but you said yourself that it was our best

chance. Or have you forgotten your own words already, Terador? You, yourself proposed we make

the human locate Ignitus. Well this is not so different. Ignitus will be found, but the war is

an immediate and pressing matter. We must do what we can."

Volteer averted his attention to his right as he saw the human approaching from the war table.

Hunter and Captain Blaze followed him. _Odd_, Volteer thought, _why is he coming this way?_

_Why are they following __**him**_? Volteer did not stir from where he lay, just stared,

awaiting whatever was unfolding before him. Volteer wanted to trust the human. Nothing he had

said thus far had proved false. That and...he didn't seem to be evil. He was certainly unusual,

and likely not to be trusted, but Volteer couldn't bring himself to dislike the thing. Though

he was more than a little embarrassed about his emotional falling out in front of it.

He had a lot on his mind that day... The stress caught up to him and boiled over. Volteer was

just glad no one was around to see it happen. The human came to a stop just in front of Volteer

and just beside Terrador. "Hmmhmm..." The human cleared its throat loudly. "Terrador, we must

seize what opportunities we are presented. Think, you giant boulder-headed twit. What if it

sees a way to beat back the shadows?" Terador snorted and turned away from Cyril, the two

completely ignorant of the creature right next to them. "Hrmmhrmm", the human tried again, to

no effect. "Cyril, you may be standing in this room with us, but your head is in the clouds. We

can't expect it to see anything useful at all. We can't even expect it to see anything." The

human put its rather flat face in its palm and let out an irritated groan.

"Cyril, Terrador, I believe our miniscule subject of stress would like to speak and convey some

oppinion or information to us at the present... And Terrador, _do_ watch your step, please,

else you render this argument of yours invalid and unneeded rather swiftly...and most

gruesomely." Volteer stood, speaking out rapid-fire, trying to get the others' attention.

Terrador turned back about to face Volteer. "What are you twittering on about now, Volteer,

Cyril and I are in the middle of something." Volteer looked down at the human, now sprawled out

on his back, having just narrowly avoided being stepped on by Terrador. The human let out an

irritated growl.

When he finally looked down, Terrador let out a deep chuckle, Volteer, a grunt of irritation.

"Now that you two are done fighting," the human started as he stood, "I'd like..." In a flash,

Captain Blaze snatched him up in his claws. "Have some respect, you little turd. You're talking

to the guardians!" Blaze brought the human face to snout with him. "If you want to survive your

stay, you may want to start kissing at their claws..." Cyril spoke up, "That is enough,

Captain. He's little good to us if you accidentally crush his ribs in..." A look of shock

covered Blaze's face as he dropped the human altogether. "I-I-I'm sorry, yes, Master Cyril. I-

I-It won't happen again. Erm...Well, human? Speak up now..."

The human sat, glaring up at the Captain. It hadn't taken the unexpected fall with the grace Volteer expected to see. The human

stood, never shifting its eyes as it did so. When he was firmly on his feet, Cyril lost his patience. "Well, what is it? What is so important?

What do you have to say for this interruption?" It looked over to Cyril. And replied, "I want to help however I can." Terrador barked a

laugh. "Great, now we have pity from even this pitiful thing. How far we've fallen... Terrador stormed off, simply shoving his way

through the door. Before the door closed all the way, Volteer saw Terrador take wing. Something was bothering the Earth Guardian

still. And it wasn't just Ignitus's death. Volteer could only wonder at what it was.

"Great", Cyril said, sarcasm practically dripping from his words, "And what do you intend to do to help us? Are you going to go and fight

the shadows yourself?" "If that's the only way I can, then sure. Why not?", the human continued calmly despite its obvious irritation,

"Buuuut, I think there are possibly other ways I can help. Maybe I'll see more in the pool of visions that will help you out." Cyril

narrowed his eyes at the human. "After what happened yesterday with the pool of visions, I'm not sure I trust you anywhere near it."

The human narrowed his eyes in turn. "Are you asking for my help, or am I asking for yours?" Cyril's eyes opened back up wide. "Why,

you little... We have asked you for nothing, while you laze about in the safety of our temple eating our food and wasting our time." It

raised a fist at Cyril. "You have me imprisoned. Who said I wanted to be here? And as for food, I haven't eaten since I got to this

ridiculous realm of yours. Which, by the way, is not the right way to treat a prisoner at all. I AM entitled to certain rights by the Geneva

Convention!" Cyril cocked his head. "The what convention? I've never heard of such a thing." He looked over at the Captain and then

to hunter. Both met his gaze with an equally confused shrug. "And Hunter, it was your task to feed it. I'm certain I said as much."

Hunter shook his head. As Volteer recalled, the only things involving the human that Cyril had seen to were his room, and that hunter

keep him either under lock or his supervision.

Volteer gathered his thoughts, and formed a simple sentence even volteer would grasp. "I say we let him use the well. You planned to

let him anyway, right, Cyril?" Cyril glared at him. Volteer held back his laughter when he saw Cyril's cheeks redden. Suddenly, Cyril's

anger vanished, as though blown away by a wintery breeze. "Fine. Human, I'll let you use the well." A devious smile crept up on Cyril's

face. "And I'll let you train to fight the shadows, since you want to **sooo** badly. **_In fact_**, Captain Blaze will be training you himself.

So nice of you to volunteer for the job, Captain. Blaze's eyes went as wide as plates. "But-but-but, guardian!" The Captain sputtered,

at a complete loss for words. Captain Blaze gestured to the human "It isn't fit for combat! Look how tiny it is!" He gestured again. "And

look how scrawny." The human interjected, "Your _guardian_ hasn't helped any with that." Cyril continued on, undaunted. "You will

train him to the best of your ability, captain. It will be rigorous, and no doubt, painful, but if the human is as strong as he claims to be,

he will be fine. If not, well..." He winked at Captain Blaze. A subtle enough gesture that even Volteer nearly missed it. NEARLY. "You

will have done your best, and the human will simply not have been up to it. Right?"

Captain Blaze caught on quickly. "Oh, you mean... Erh... I mean, as you wish, Master Cyril." The orange dragon cracked a devilish smile.

The human had not missed that there was an underlying message here, and took a defensive stance and looked as though he were

ready to fight the dragon if need be. "Well, we can see about the pool of visions later, but training is imperative! Off you go, you three.

Again, thank you for volunteering, Captain." Blaze whirled around, and almost swept the human with his tail in the process.

The human, still trying to regain his balance was completely taken off guard when the dragon grabbed him again, and started walking

off rather expeditiously. Volteer barely heard Cyril giggle under his breath when the party was completely out of earshot. Volteer raised

his eye ridge when he looked over to face Cyril. "What? He made the suggestion. I simply let him go through with it." Volteer sighed

and shook his head. _May your ancestors look after you, human. It is going to be a long day for you._


	6. Human, barely

**Chapter 6, Human, barely…**

Hunter laughed again as the amazingly resilient creature went sailing, yet again, through the air at an astonishing speed. "Uaaaaahhhh!" The human's volume dropped comically as the distance between it and hunter increased rapidly. Some distance away in the training grounds, the human tumbled about for a few yards before catching itself and jumping straight back to its feet. Immediately, in a fit of rage, it went charging after Captain Blaze, who simply trotted nearer to him in a nonchalant manner before coming to an easy halt and with his tail, punting the human away yet again. Hunter cringed, even from this distance, he **distinctly** heard something crack that time.

The human didn't recover as swiftly this time, but lay there for a moment before rising slowly, and taking in his surroundings for a bit before reconsidering his approach for the umpteenth time. Hunter noticed that the human's breathing was heavier, more labored. He was growing tired. he couldn't help but wonder how much longer the human had before he would be required to give up. Blaze laughed as the human switched up his stance. "Are you ready to train yet? I'm just getting warmed up." With that, Blaze charged the human. He hadn't done that so far in the training. The human was completely caught off guard by this, and had no time to brace for impact. Using his foreclaws, Captain Blaze backhanded him mid-lunge. The human didn't fly this time, but instead, rolled across the ground a couple of yards, then stood again.

After that attack, the human was visibly shaken and injured. He wouldn't stand up straight, and was apparently having trouble breathing. After a moment of thinking, Hunter surmised that the repeated heavy impacts had probably broken several ribs. Finally, after a full three hours of having the sense knocked out of him, the human's legs gave out on him, and he collapsed onto his back, still visibly struggling to stand and fight in vain. Blaze strode over to him, and lay a large foreclaw on his chest. The human's arms and legs jerked at the contact. "Get the hell off!" Hunter heard the human shout at the dragon, but he paid no heed. Captain Blaze smiled a little, and pressed down harder. "**GAAAAAAHHHHH!**" The human was obviously in intense pain. He had cried out very few times in the entire thrashing.

Hunter heard another pop, and the human went silent. He shook his head. Well, Blaze got his revenge. Hunter was sure that that final pop was something vital, and the human's sudden silence didn't plead otherwise. It was almost a shame. The human had such a strong fighting spirit. But this turn of events could not be faulted. The human simply did not belong here. It was alien to dragons, and dragons were alien to it. Captain Blaze lifted his claw off the human and turned around. He looked down at the claw he had just taken from the human for a moment, then, looking up, walked to where Hunter was observing. "I didn't know it was so frail... It didn't tell me it was already so injured... I can't be blamed for this... We...We should return to the temple now. Erm... No one ever comes to this grove. I-I-I... I'll take care of it tomorrow. You know that I didn't do it on purpose, right?" Hunter looked up to the dragon's face. The dragon seemed distressed at the human's sudden expiration. Likely less because he cared about the human, and more because he was concerned with how the guardians would react to finding out that their new oracle was now dead. Hunter could only come up with one response for Captain blaze. "Things happen. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Who can say it was on purpose? Who can say it wasn't meant to happen?" Blaze nodded, eyes slightly wider than usual. "Let's...let's go back."

Hunter and Captain Blaze left off for the temple, leaving the human behind. Hunter couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for it. It's not like the creature meant to wind up here. As they walked away, he wondered how it **did** get there.

_You going to wake up now, mortal? Come on now, all it did was crush most of the bones in your ribcage. You __**still**__ have a contract with me, and right now, you are not holding up your end._ From somewhere beyond the peaceful void he was resting in, Xane heard an annoying and insistent voice ring out. _Must I spell it out for you? __**Get the fuck up, you aren't done yet**__. Fine. Don't listen. Better paralyze your jaw so you don't bite your tongue off. This is going to hurt... a lot._

The world burst forth into agonizing clarity around him, but he couldn't focus on any of it, as right then, the only thing he was truly able to focus on was every bone in his body reconstructing themselves rapidly, and all of his tender, sensitive organs repairing at an impossible rate. Lightning shot through his nerves, and his heart started beating, his body spasming at the agony. He would have been screaming, but an unseen force held his mouth shut firmly. Fire pulsed in his veins as blood started pumping again, and that same fire washed over him completely as he was forced to take a breath. His mouth now open, and unrestrained, he screamed at the top of his lungs at the sheer, maddening agony that was all he knew at this instant. Suddenly, his vision darkened and his senses dulled, the pain becoming bearable, then disappearing altogether as he lost all control of his body. His head and vision tilted against his will and he heard his neck pop. "Sheesh, if that's how you're going to act every time I fix you, I'm going to have to take control when I do. You'd swear you were dying...hehehe." Xane heard a voice that was not his own uttered from his mouth.

"Oh, shit, I forgot..." Visions and voices and feelings and emotions drowned out everything Xane was aware of. "There you go, your memories. I forgot that dying wipes them out. Ah well, no harm, no foul? Here's your...well, self... back... Don't die again, takes alot of energy out of me." Xane's vision cleared as Bezekheil went dormant again. "Fuck, that hurt, Bezekheil. Couldn't you have done it slower so it wouldn't hurt like that? Note to self: Dying, the first thing I did in this friggin world...well, after some killing, and running...and some prophesy...and...You know what, never mind. Bezy, you're a dick." He heard an idle chuckling in the back of his head. He flexed and stretched, checking to see if everything worked. This was his first time dying, well, since after he was revived from being Dead on delivery... Bezy did that too, but it was just restarting his heart, which apparently wasn't as hard. Or painful...

Everything was in order as he could tell. _I took the liberty of hardening your bones and making your muscles a little more dense. Seems like you need every little boon you can get here. Two days and dead? Not a good track reccord, human._ "Shut it, Bezy. How long have you been dead?" _I'm not dead, I'm a spirit. For me, this __**is**__ alive._ "Whatever, we ought to get back to the temple, and save the sadistic asshole's life, or at least his career." _He just__** killed**__ you. You want to __**help**__ him? Now you're just being stupid. Let's explore the city a little first._ "No, we won't be very welcome in a city of giant flying lizards, any of which can kill me with ease." _That wasn't a suggestion, human. It was a command. Get going, and be grateful I'm letting you._ He felt himself smirk. Xane hadn't been the one who did it.

"Fine, but we both know this isn't going to go well." _Trust me. Have I ever lied...let you down?_ "Do you really want to ask?" _Just get going. _"Fine." With that, Xane started walking, he had no idea where he was going to go, or what in the world he was going to run into. This was a whole new world, and it wasn't one that was kind to humans.

Xane started off for the city, slightly against his will. He realized as he continued toward the main body of the city, that he really had no reason _not_ to explore the metropolis. As soon as he would return to the guardians' residence, he would just be confined again to his room, and doubtlessly, shortly thereafter, he would be interrogated as to how he survived having his chest flattened. "Going to be a long day, huh, Bezy?", he stated aloud, though he only meant himself and his ethereal companion to hear it. He felt Bezekheil sigh. _You know, for a mortal who could die any given moment, you are certainly peppy. _Xane scoffed at the smart ass comment.

The two continued along as one, and as one, they were completely unaware that they were being followed closely, quietly by a creature just as cast-aside in this crazy war-torn world as they, themselves were. The timid young dragon knew what he had just seen, but he simply could not understand it. An ape had just risen from the dead… He had watched the entire fight, all 2 hours of it. He was at first simply curious as to why an Army Captain was toying with a single ape, but then it kept getting back up every time it was sent careening through the air. He had never seen an ape this strong, and he'd seen strong apes. Unconsciously, he glanced back at his tail which flicked out to meet his gaze. He had _definitely _seen his fair share of apes… but this one was different, and it talked.

After a moment of consideration, the orphan dragon trotted after the ape, keeping well out of its sight, but keeping it in his. He was getting better at staying out of sight by the day. It was needed for his survival at this point. Step by timid, achy step, the young drake pursued the completely ignorant ape. He couldn't help but feel kind of bad for it as he followed. It was completely alone in a place where any of the residents would crush it without a second though…

Xane rounded another corner, this time to the left. He was zigzagging his way through the alleys. The architecture of the buildings was spectacular, as though each stone brick was crafted by an artisan. The brilliant reds and golden yellows of the structures that surrounded him put him in awe at the towering buildings that rose all around him. This toppled human mega structures as though they were simple log cabins. Every wall was finely and carefully crafted to perfection, the monstrously large bricks were mortared together nigh-seamlessly. The worked metal that formed the few windows he had spied were astonishing, and varied. He had seen some of fine, untarnished copper, its deep brown-red color standing out against the grey bricks it rest upon. He had seen another, an unusual metal that had somehow been tempered to change colors depending on the angle from which it was seen, it rest atop a fine marble tower that stood proud some few miles back.

Xane had stuck to the alleyways to remain out of sight. _So far_, he mused to himself_, I'm doing pretty damned good. Unseen, unheard, unknown. As it damn-well ought to be._ He took a right this time, and stopped dead in his track. Some distance ahead of him, an enormous dog was digging in a dragon-sized box. He took a single step back, never turning around. His blood ran cold as the canine raised its muzzle to the air and started sniffing. Its head started turning toward Xane, and he backpedaled as quietly and as quickly as he could. He heard a single bark as he rounded the corner backwards, backing into a box he'd failed to notice before he had turned in the first time.

_Fuck!_ He whipped around and bolted past the large crate, a few meters down, and into another alley to the left. He heard barking behind him, and it was closing. He dug deeper, and ran faster. He turned down another alley to the right, slamming into a crate, cracking it. He spun off of it, and kept going. He skidded and took a left. The barking was getting closer. He picked up speed again, now running in full, as fast as he could. He was unarmed! No armor, no weaponry, nothing to help him. He took another left at full speed, and came to a sudden, and painful dead stop.

He stumbled back a few steps, rubbing his nose and waiting for his vision to clear. He had run into some odd greenish blue wall… or maybe a barrel? He shook his head to clear his vision. "Well, mate, looky what we got here. Another toy to play with!" His vision cleared, and he stared at the rump of an adolescent turquoise dragon that stood roughly 8 ft. from claw to shoulder. "Beat it, squirt. We won't get into trouble for breaking this toy…" as the large dragon spoke, Xane saw a small blue dragon, perhaps 4 feet tall, scurry off in the opposite direction. "Aww, this is gonna be fun…" Xane heard another voice just past the turquoise dragon. A large, broad orange snout poked up over the turquoise, and the eyes behind it held all the eagerness of a cat that had cornered a bird…

Behind him, Xane heard claws skidding on stone. The barking had stopped... "C'mere, Rex! I wondered where you'd gotten off to! Scared us out an ape, did ya?" The orange dragon whistled to the dog, and it cruised past Xane straight to him. "C'mon, Bruiser, you gotta bring that mutt everywhere you go? Thing smells like a toadweed." The orange dragon put on a pouty face. "Aw, but Diz, you know he's my bud!" The turquoise dragon, Diz turned his head back to Xane after he gave 'Bruiser' a tisk-tisk. "Well now, what are we gonna do with you? Dog toy? Nah, too good for an ape. Dog food? No, but we're getting there…"

Diz raised his right-foreclaw and snapped his claws. "I got it! How'sabout we use you to paint some new work on these walls here?" Xane stumbled back at the violence expressed by this teenage monster. "God damn it, what have I gotten myself into now?!" Xane said it as an afterthought as he whipped around and bolted back out of the alleyway, taking a left, then an immediate right. "**After it!**", Xane heard the turquoise call out, and immediately after, he heard the orange follow "Sick 'em, Rex!" Xane dead-bolted down the alley, and was about to turn left when he impacted something smaller than him, that caught him square in the chest, and sent Xane straight to the ground, with something very heavy on his chest.

The impact had knocked the wind out of him, and he lay there, trying in vain to catch his breath. Suddenly the weight was lifted. Xane took a gasping breath of air, and opened his eyes up. He was staring face to face with a young crimson dragon. "Oh, damn it all…", he said aloud. He shut his eyes in frustration, and continued on, "Bezy, I fucking blame **you **for this!"

"Come on! Get up quick! Come on, they're gonna kill you!" Xane was taken completely off guard when the crimson spoke to him. "Wait, what the fuck? You talking to me?" The crimson interrupted him, "I know you can talk, I heard you. Now shut up and listen! Get up and follow me!" Xane tried to stand, but the dragon apparently decided he was going too slow, so it bit down on his blouse and lifted him to his feet. "Come on!" The dragon broke off into a light sprint that to Xane, was a full-blown run. He followed him turn for turn, the dog closing in behind them rapidly. A left, another left, a right… Xane's head was starting to spin with all the changes in direction. They came into a small dumpy clearing and skidded to a stop. As soon as they did, Xane slammed to the ground, something heavy impacting him from behind. He felt claws start to dig into his back, then suddenly the claws were no longer on him. He shot to his feet, and watched as the crimson dragon barreled away, holding onto the massive canine. The two of them rolled to a stop, and the dragon was on top, but the dog was chewing on his wing, teeth digging into the black bony parts. The young dragon screamed out in pain, and Xane bird-necked, looking for some way to help out.

He saw an old table off about 20 meters away, lying against a wall. He hadn't known what it was at first since it was lying on its side, one of the legs broken off, and laying just beneath it, almost concealed by the grey tarp atop the table. Xane bolted towards it as the dragon continued to wrestle with the dog. He snatched it up, and spun around, sprinting over to where his new ally was being used as a very big chew toy. He stopped just to the side of the dragon, and pulled the large leg ,about the length of a pool-stick and the thickness of a baseball bat at the thickest point. He held it like he was about to swing for a home-run, and brought the oversized stick into the dog's head. It yelped out, and let the dragon go. The dragon, surprised at its release, let go of the dog, and it went galloping away from them, and clean out of the clearing. The dragon stood, panting for a moment before it, clearly male by its prepubescent voice. "We have to get inside. They won't find us in there." The dragon tilted his head, and gestured toward a rundown building with his horns. "You alright?", Xane said, resting his makeshift weapon on his shoulder. "Have you forgotten that the dog wasn't the only thing chasing you?!" The smirk Xane had from smacking the hell out of the dog basically fell off his face at the reminder.

"Right, inside we go." He started off for the door, but stopped when he realized the crimson dragon wasn't coming. He looked back, and the drake immediately spoke up, "Go on in, I'ma cover for you so they don't search for you anymore." Xane nodded to him then went in.

The inside looked just as busted as the outside. Dust everywhere and cobwebs coated corners and the remnants of a small table. Off in the far corner, a large, torn up blanket was laid out with a few old pillows strewn about on top of it. He continued looking around inside. He stepped up to a large door that led upstairs and reached for the handle, but stopped when he heard noise from outside. The walls were thick, so he could barely hear the commotion.

"Alright, whad'ya do to my dog? Why did you hit him?

"What did _I_ do?! It attacked me! I defended myself!", the young crimson dragon yelled back. "Well what gives _you _the right? What makes _you _think that _you_ have the right to defend yourself, stray?" Then Xane heard laughter, and it certainly didn't belong to the young crimson… then it occurred to Xane that he hadn't seen any parents of the young dragon despite his youth. The laughter cut to a sudden stop, and Xane heard a loud crash from outside. He then heard Bruiser call out "Dizzy?! Oh, hell naw! You did not just…" Another crashing noise cut the large orange dragon off. "I'm not a stray! My parents died defending this city, you pricks! **Uaagh!" **Xane heard an impact, followed by the sound of wood smashing. Xane looked himself over to see if he had any armaments or anything that could be useful in fending off these large dragon. _Nope, just my cammies. Not even wearing my cover, damnit. Wish I had my knife right now…_

He looked over to the broken table nearby. He walked over to it, trying to stay quiet. He grabbed the dull grey leg, and tugged at it. It was still sturdy. Xane always preferred swords over bats, but he had to work with what was available. Outside, he could hear almost rhythmic impacts. He knew the sound. Fists(sorta) on flesh. "Fuck this!" Xane kicked hard into the joint that held the leg to the rest of the table. The sudden impact on the uncared for leg caused it to shatter at the jointing, leaving the end sharp. "Sweet." He grabbed it, and charged the door.

He burst out the door and saw the turquoise dragon beating on the younger crimson with a balled claw. The large orange dragon, Bruiser, despite his name, was just spurring him on, and not actually hitting, himself. Before the two dragons could spot him, he dashed at the Dizzy, the turquoise, at his absolute top speed. The dragon craned his neck to see what was rushing at him just in time to watch the wooden spike get rammed into his rib cage. Xane had still been mid-charge, and put every bit of momentum and force he could gather into that spike, and the dragon's chest. The dragon jumped up a bit, and rolled onto his back, screaming, and grabbing at the pointed table leg with his foreclaws, as he rolled a little on the cobbled street. Bruiser came rushing forward too fast for Xane to dodge the attack, and he was backhanded into a wall about 15 feet away. He fell to the ground, and collapsed. His breathing brought rattling with it, and he tasted copper when he breathed out. That was never good.

"Dizzy! Are you okay? Just…Just hold on! I'll get ya to a healer. Hang in there!" Xane wasn't out yet, and was watching as the large orange dragon tried in vain to lift his critically injured friend. With each exhalation, a light barely noticeable pink mist would rise on Dizzy's breath._ And now he knows how I feel right now… still, I should do something…_ Xane thought for a second. _Correction, __**we**__ should do something. _He heard a familiar voice in his head. It was irritated at the idea. _That dragon just tried to kill you, and you want to __**help it?! **__Yes. Yes, I do, and we both know that alone, I'm nowhere near strong enough to lift that thing. Sooo… _Bezekheil replied immediately, _You're mad. _Xane retorted quickly. _No, you're mad. I'm just stupid. _He imagined the demon smiling slyly at the small victory Xane just handed him. _Fair enough. It will be done. He doesn't look __**that**__ heavy… _Xane's vision grew darker.

Against his will, against his control, but with his consent, his body rose from the ground. Each breath was like fire, but it was dulled against the demon's control. He walked over to where the orange dragon was nudging his fallen and dying friend. "C'mon…please, get up. I can't lift you… We have to get you to the healer." Xane spotted, despite his darkened vision, a steadily growing pool of blood below the dragon. _You know one of the benefits of being a draconic demon, human?_ Bezekheil asked in a sly voice that said _I'm about to show you a new trick._ Xane didn't really care, as long as the job got done. _Watch this._ Xane watched in revulsion as his hand scooped some of the blood from the ground, and raised the hand to his face. He was aware of the stinging caused by the acidity of the blood, but Bezekheil wasn't about to let blood destroy his hand.

Suddenly, a sharp, sweet, salty, coppery taste hit Xane's mouth, and burned all the way down his throat. _What the __**fuck**__ are you doing?! I said help him, not consume him!_ He heard his body chuckle. "That's precisely what I'm doing. Give me a moment." Xane saw Bruiser look at him in confusion and rage. "If you even **think** about flinging me again, I'll rip off your tail, and disembowel you, then I'll make you eat your own intestines. That is the only warning you get." The large orange dragon's expression jumped to one of shock and raw fear. Xane knew the demon meant what it said…and what's worse, it had the power to make that threat a very real situation.

He saw himself kneel down and raise his hand to his mouth. The demon forced him to cough violently until a bit of Xane's own blood was in his hand. Then, the demon took that blood into his mouth, and scooped up more of Dizzy's blood, and poured it into his mouth, mixing the two awful flavors. Suddenly the liquid grew very warm, and Xane was walking to the would on the dragon. The demon raised Xane's hand to the wooden weapon, and with no warning whatsoever, ripped it from the dragon's side. The dragon started breathing jaggedly and sharply, stuttering and sobbing a little with each breath. He flung the piece of wood to the side nonchalantly and brought Xane's face down to the wound, and spat the mixed and extremely warm blood into the dragon's wound. _What in the fuck, Bezzy? How is this going to help him?! Now he's choking to death on __**both of our blood!**_ He heard the demon chuckle, and saw the look of fear still on Bruiser's face. For an awkward moment, the demon stood, forcing Xane to grin at the dragon, with blood covering his teeth, and likely dripping down his chin. Suddenly Xane felt his ribcage pop, and his breathing evened out as his organs began to knit themselves back into complete repair. "Now then, it begins. Observe, dragon, a long forgotten magic known only to monsters. Monsters specifically like me." _Bezekheil, shut up __**now**__!_

Dizzy began to convulse on the ground, flailing his limbs about as though trying to brush off fire. Bezekheil laughed in spite as the dragon screamed in agony. The dragon was now in more pain than any creature had likely know in millennia. It writhed on the ground, and Bruiser began calling out to him, then he looked over to Xane. Mentally, Xane held a look of pure shock and terror, but physically, Bezekheil held that same spiteful, malicious grin, which held Bruiser in place, screaming insults and empty threats at him. The demon forced Xane to look at the wound which had blackened as if burnt, and Xane saw the fibers of the dragon's flesh begin to stretch and reach out, healing the wound. _Demon healing is never painless,_ Bezekheil said privately to Xane. _But it __**is healing**_, _right?_ The demon chuckled. _See for yourself._

Xane watched as the dragon's flesh completely restored, and the scales began to grow anew. The dragon was, indeed, healing. However, it would likely suffer for a long time after this trauma… and probably develop a strong fear of blood. Especially his own. That probably meant his bullying days were over. _Bezzy, you're an ass. _The demon spoke, and as he did, Xane regained control. _Yes, but at least I get things done. Could you have done this?_ Xane sighed. It was true. He could never have saved the dragon's life. If it hadn't been for this parasite, this dragon would have bled out or asphyxiated by now._ That's what I thought, now, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. You will have to do the same soon._

At that statement, a wave of weariness washed over Xane. His vision began to darken in a different way, and with what he knew would be the last few minutes of his consciousness today, he stumbled over to the fallen crimson, and lifted him to a fireman's carry, blinking and losing about fifteen seconds in the process. Everything was quickly getting very hazy. He walked over to the derelict home, and using his forehead, pushed the door open, not having truly noted that the other two dragons had already fled the area. He just got inside, and everything went black.

_Author's Note: Bezekheil is a demon. To be precise, he is a demon of corruption. This means he does not often follow the rules. He __**can**__ heal others, and if the situation is right, he can help others. This does __**not**__, however, __**ever**__ make him a good guy. It just so happens that sometimes, he's just the "man" for the job._

Also, thank you for your patience, I'm ridiculously busy with work lately. I'm trying to keep the story going, and by damn, it will not stop here! It will just take time and patience. Bear with me, folks, I know a lot of you have viewed the story. Don't really know what hardly any of you think though. I have, I think, a grand total of 6? reviews. If I messed up on some details, or if you think I ought to elaborate on something, you're going to have to let me know. I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong. So, R&R.


	7. Chapter 7

At the sound of a crash, Xane bolted into full awareness. His eyes shot open, and his gaze darted around the room. Completely unaware of where he was, or how he'd gotten there, Xane stood quietly, and swiftly, assuming a combat stance. He readied to engage any and everything in this unfamiliar, rundown building. He froze as he heard a voice. "Finally awake, ape?" Memory struck him hard as he remembered the source of the voice, a young, and battle-worn dragon that had just earlier saved his life. Then he remembered the fight, and after that, the demon's healing. He reeled when it hit him that he had just drank blood… And dragon blood, nonetheless.

"I already told you, I'm not an ape… or did I?" Xane cut his statement when he heard a barked laugh come from a nearby room. "Must have taken more of a thrashing than you let on. The only thing you've told me so far is well…nothing at all." Xane saw the crimson dragon step through a doorless doorway, into this room. The dragon cocked its head to the side, and looked at Xane curiously. "So, care to tell me anything about you? Like, for starters, what's an ape that can talk doing in the city?"

Cameron awaited the ape's explanation eagerly. This was really an odd occurrence. One, an ape was in the city, and two, it had saved his life just hours ago. He also noted that it wore strange armor, and was unarmed. The ape seemed to be thinking for a moment, then it spoke up. "Alright, I'm a human. My name, if that matters at all to you, is Xane. Xane La'Hart. I'm a 'warrior' where I come from. To be a little more specific, I'm a marine." Cameron chuckled choked back a laugh. "Marine, like the color? Hahaha, what? You might want to leave that part out next time you introduce yourself…" The ape took on a very annoyed and impatient look.

"Hey, I'm just being honest. It's a girly color. Anyway, go on." The story was absurd, and little of it made any sense at all, but it was definitely interesting, so Cameron decided to sit through it. "So, as I was saying, I'm a marine. An elite amphibious fighter. I'm trained to be just as effective at killing from 500 meters away as I am at point-blank. Last I recall before I wound up in this in-friggin-sane world of yours is crashing out in my room in the barracks. How I got here, not a damn clue."

"Alright, blue. I'll bite…" Cameron saw the 'human' tense up when he said that. Its fists balled up, and its entire body seemed to become just a little bit more solid. "I mean, I'm curious… Cool off, will you?" Cameron looked to the side and muttered under his breath in a language lost to dragons and most creatures in general. "Wow, this one's a loose cannon. A little slow, even…" He stopped when Xane raised the fur above his eye. At least, Cameron _thought_ it was a he. It would make a very strange female. "My name is Xane, but you can call me La'Hart. Blue isn't any part of my name."

Cameron let out a little snort. "No, you're right. It isn't in your name, but I'm not calling you 'marine'. That's a girl's name. Right alongside Topaz, or Emerald even." Cameron couldn't help but crack a smile when Xane's face lit up. "And Ruby is a girl's name too. At least that one suits you a little better." The human breathed in deeply and let out an irritated sigh, his face turning back to its original odd, pale color. Even if he claimed not to be one, Xane looked, in all of honesty, like a shaved ape. The only fur he had was on his face and the very top of his head. In truth, the odd thing was kind of boring looking, but alien at the same time. Its eyes were sharp, and dark brown with sharp angles like ridges in the colored part, his skin was the color of sand, and his fur was just mutt-brown. His 'armor', if you could call it that, was just cloth, and was more for camouflage than anything else, as he could tell. At first glance, Xane looked completely harmless. If he looked just a little closer, he could see a predatory look in his eyes, though.

"So then, ya live here? Seems a little…" the creature paused and glanced around the room, turning his head, but not quite anything else. "erm… Old?" Cameron reeled a little on the inside. He knew the house was old. He knew it was falling apart. He hadn't actually gone upstairs to his room in about a year now. But, this is where his family lived. At least, this is where the dragons that raised him lived.

"I strike a nerve on that one?" Cameron looked up to see Xane put a hand on the back of his head. "No. It's alright." Cameron shook the sadness that was creeping up on him. "So, what _are_ you doing in Warfang?" The human shook his head, and replied simply, "Well, It seems I'm just wandering around, causing trouble for the time being."

Cameron craned his neck so he could see one of the windows behind him. It was getting dark outside. It was about time to start going out and looking for something to eat. He remembered a time when he was squeamish about what he ate, and when he would jump at just about every shadow. That part of him died when he watched his family die. Those kinds of things make a young drake grow up real fast. It's either grow up or go down. Time to scavenge. "Hey, Xane." Cameron turned his head to look at the human, who looked, in turn, at him. "Yeah?", the human replied simply. "Don't tear the house down. I'm going scavenge. With that, he left.

As soon as the Xane was certain the dragon was out of earshot, Xane said aloud, "So, you made me DRINK dragon's blood. Are you honestly thinking that I am just going to give that one an okay? You have **lost your damn mind, demon.**" A chuckle rang out from the back of Xane's mind. "_You told me to help the dragon. You didn't specify __**how**__. My only stipulation was that I must heal it. I called forth a bit of antiquated magic. That is all." _Xane shook his head. "You _**know**_ how I feel about harming dragons." "_That didn't stop you from stabbing it in the first place. Think ahead a little bit next time, and we won't have such problems. I __**did**__ my job." _Xane simply shook his head. The parasite was right.

"_And look at us now… you've even made a friend. You __**should **__be thanking me, rather than scolding." _Xane doubted that this dragon was a friend really. In all of truth, he had no idea why the thing was helping him. Xane walked about the room, taking in his surroundings. Dust coated every surface. Picture frames were busted out. Furniture was so decayed from age and lack of upkeep that here and there, plants actually grew out of the oversized cushioning. More often, however, the plants were fungus ranging in color from pale white to mottled yellow, and he even spied a brilliant green and blue spotted mushroom. He specifically avoided getting too close to that one.

Xane continued to tour the house. The bottom floor was made up of only 3 rooms. The "living room", in which, he had woken up earlier, and the destroyed remnants of a kitchen/dining room. The dining table had collapsed in the center, and was useless. The kitchen had only a few dulled and tarnished utensils strewn about on the floor, and the cabinets, which were comically large to a human, were long ago emptied, and the doors had fallen off the hinges. The floor was tiled with dull, green stone, and here and there, Xane spotted scorch marks, and bits of soot and ash. Probably the dragon trying to keep warm during the colder months. The third room was what he assumed to be a pantry, but the door was huge, and rusted solid. There was no way Xane could get in.

Xane absentmindedly approached the staircase in the living room, and placed one foot lightly on the first step. It creaked loudly, but it held. Tentatively, Xane ascended. None of the steps gave out on him, surprisingly, and he got to the second floor without incident. Ahead, was a dark hallway. Two doors on the left, two on the right. Xane let his eyes adjust to the murky darkness, and stepped up to the first door on the right. He held out his hand, and pushed at the door, but it didn't budge. It felt as though something was propped up against the bottom of the door on the inside. He turned around, and tried the first door on the left. He pushed, and after a bit of effort, the door almost cracked open. "_It's awfully dark in here, human. I see well in the depths of hell, but I doubt you can say quite the same… Oh, I know. How about the little lighter you always have in your left breast pocket?" _Xane rolled his eyes at the demon's resourceful cockiness, and reached into the pocket after undoing the Velcro. Surely enough, he found his lighter nestled away, safe and secure. He took it out, and resealed the pocket.

Lighter in his right hand, Xane propped his left shoulder into the door, and began to push. There was no effect, and Xane pushed harder. Xane kept pushing, and finally, the door gave in, and came straight off its hinges, falling into the room, and taking Xane in with it. The instant the room opened up, Xane's eyes started to water. It smelled like death and refuse. Xane pushed himself up and flipped on the lighter. He was right about one half of that. This room was a long-abandoned restroom. The oddly shaped toilet had broken and spilled some of its contents onto the floor, and having been sealed, none of it had evaporated, only…stewed…

Xane carefully stepped out of the room, making sure he didn't track any…souvenirs… He walked up to the next door on the left. The lighter was still burning, or he wouldn't be able to see anything at all. It had, in this meager time span, gotten very dark outside. Basically no light was filtering from outside anymore. Xane pressed his hand to the door to push it open, when he felt an odd depression. He pulled his hand back. "_Hold the light to it. Let me see." _Against his better judgement, Xane did as he was told. On the door, some angular writing was carved in. "_Mother and father"_, Xane heard in his mind. The demon had read it. "_This is the child's parents' room. Let's take a look." _Xane held out his hand again, and pushed the door open. It opened with ease, unlike the others. Xane held out the lighter for better visibility. Inside, was a massive bed, clearly meant for two very large creatures, and on the wall, stood something that took Xane a heart-stopping moment to recognize. As soon as he looked at it, light flashed back at him, and he closed his eyes and looked away. After a moment, he looked back, and realized that it was a huge mirror. This room was in miraculously good condition, but Xane couldn't bring himself to go further in. It felt…invasive… wrong…

Xane stepped out of the room, and did his best to close the door behind him. Then, he turned about, and pushed on the final door. It budged only very little. Curious, and impatient, Xane pushed again, harder this time. The door held. Xane gritted his teeth, and pushed even harder, pressing his shoulder and left hand into the door. Still, it made no movement whatsoever. Xane stood back, and breathed in. Suddenly, before he realized what he was doing, Xane slammed his booted foot into the door as hard as he could, sending the door crashing down into the room, and bumping into a shelf. Something inside clanged on the ground, and Xane reeled back at all the sudden noise. He stood, frozen, waiting for the silence to resume. Suddenly, a tune fell upon his ears. It was a low-and-slow, hauntingly familiar, yet pleasant sound. Xane stepped inside to see the damage he had caused. He didn't take long to realize that it was a music box making the sounds.

The damage was minimal, as only the door was broken, and the shelf was only cracked lightly. Xane stepped inside, and scanned for the music box. He held his lighter out further, and the light glinted off of the dull tin that composed the device. Music was emanating from the device, but it did not otherwise do anything. No carousel, no clowns, no dancer. Just a tin dome playing music at the back of the room. The lighter was heating up, and started to burn his hand, so Xane turned around and started to leave. He made it to the door before there was a loud click behind him. The noise made him let go of the gas-trigger. The room went dark.

Xane stood there for a moment, in the darkness, giving his eyes time to adjust some. He realized after standing there for a bit, that the room was not entirely dark. There was a dark purple light shining throughout the room. Xane looked around, trying to place the origin of the glow. It was coming from the music box. Xane approached it carefully, and knelt to pick it up. It was amazingly heavy, but only as compared to how heavy it should have been. Xane estimated it weighed around 20ish odd pounds. As he held it before him, inspecting in the dark, the device clicked open, and revealed a dark, purple gem. Something in Xane's mind stirred…

"_I would put that down, human. There are some things in this world that are not for us to tamper with…" _Xane was taken aback by the demon's statement. Bezekheil was **anything but **timid. "What are you worried about a gem for, demon? You were there when my body was _crushed_ by a dragon. I _actually died._ And this gem worries you?" Xane marveled at the small crystal, no larger than a usual paper-weight. What was special about this thing? "_Put it down, human. Put it down, and step out of the room." _ Ignoring the demon's advice, Xane held the music box in his right hand, and with his left, reached out and grabbed the crystal. He realized immediately that this was a mistake. Fire shot up through his arm, and he dropped the music box. He tried to let go of the crystal, but he couldn't make his hand open.

His back arched and a sneer of pain set on his face as liquid fire coursed through his veins. "_What did I tell you? Foolish mortals! You always ignore fair warnings, and insist on playing with things you do not understand. That crystal was a corrupt magic that is in this world. And __**you**__, in all your foolishness, reached out and grabbed it. __**You are lucky I am what I am.**__ You are lucky that __**you are**__ what you are." _The meaning of the demons words was swept away in a torrent of pain that was racing through Xane's body. Every fiber of Xane's body hurt. His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor. His teeth were clamped so tight he thought he might break them from the strain. He crossed his chest with his arms, hugging himself to try and hold himself together as a surge of force burst within him like an explosion. His head was pressed to the floor before he knew what had happened. Then, just as swiftly as the pain had begun, it stopped.

Xane gasped a ragged breath, taking in dust and god-knows-what. The contaminants were not his concern. He hadn't taken a single breath during the spike of pain. He tried to lift himself with his arms, but he could not muster the strength. He collapsed, and rolled over onto his back. "_You'll live, fool. However, I will have to make some changes to ensure that. Don't worry. All you will notice is soreness. I won't let anything change on the surface."_

Cameron nudged his way into the old building, having returned unsuccessfully from his scavenging. There was nothing good out tonight. Not even a few scraps of food. As he stepped into the livingroom, his stomach gurgled loudly. "Come on now, this isn't the first night I've gone without food…", he said more to himself than anyone whom might overhear him. He scanned the room for any unwanted guests, and cocked his head to the side when he found that the human was no longer there. "Where did he run off to?" He spoke up, assuming the human was still in the house. "Hey! Where did you go?" Cameron's head tilted automatically when he heard the stairs creak. "I'm still here, sorry. Got bored, and decided to look around." Cameron looked over to the stairs to see the human descend slowly, wincing with each step. Cameron raised an eye-ridge. "Did you break something?"

The human looked over to him. "No, I'm fine. I'm more durable than I look." Cameron shook his head. "No, I mean my house. What did you do?" The human raised a hand and scratched at his head. "Well, a few doors didn't open…" Cameron snorted. "If it doesn't open, maybe you **shouldn't open it.**" The human let out an odd, uncomfortable noise. "Sorry. I figured the hinges would hold… I guess not…" Cameron shook his head again. It didn't matter. Sooner or later the whole house was bound to come down. What harm did a few doors do? "Don't do it again. That's all. And badly. I didn't find anything. How about you? You find anything interesting upstairs?" He put a bit of irritation and sharpness into the last bit.

The human again, raised his hand to his head. "No, sorry. Well…except the swamp of god-knows-what in the restroom upstairs…" Cameron abruptly broke into laughter at that last comment. At least the human paid for his trespassing. Cameron walked over to the couch, hopped up onto it, and lay down, eyeing the obviously injured human as he sat in front of the couch.

They sat in peace for a moment, hearing nothing but the creaking of an old house. The human broke the silence. "So, you intend to stay here long? The place seems kinda…dated. I could get you a better place to stay, I'm pretty sure." Cameron looked over at him, waking from his drowse. He raised an inquisitive ridge at the proposition. "How the hell can **you** get me a place to live? You have gems hidden somewhere?" The human raised a brow at the last part. "No…gems? Nevermind, I can get you a room at the elders' tower…I think." The human kept talking on, not seeming to notice Cameron pale. "I'm in no serious rush to get back… god knows they won't be thrilled at my return, but if they think you apprehended me, I think they'd be pretty grateful…" Cameron just stared on. "How the hell do **you **know the elders? And what makes you think you're so important to them?"


	8. PSA: POLL'S UP!

Hey, fellas. Sorry for the false alarm, but there's a good reason. Alright, folks, I like to hear from the readers. I also like to flex my writing ability. SO, there's a poll up on my profile. So far, you've only seen through 4 pairs of eyes for any decent period of time. Volteer, Cameron , Hunter, and of course, Xane La'Hart. I want to hear from you, and I want to give the readers a bit of freedom here. We all love video games. Why? Interactivity. We like to choose. We REALLY like to choose who we play. So, ladies and lads. By all means, choose. If you have a thought on the matter, and a character unmentioned that you'd preffer instead, feel free to post a review on the matter or PM me. Hop to, fellas. This story doesn't improve itself.

Oh, and to The Constitutionalist, a resounding Semper Fidelis. I advise all who enjoy my story to check his out as well, if you haven't already. Just find his name in the reviews list, and click it.

I aim to have the next chapter up SIGNIFICANTLY sooner than this last one. This story IS NOT DEAD. That would be criminal to all you who enjoy it.


End file.
